Here it goes....

We've come a long way, baby!  10 months of dating, almost 9 years of marriage, 3 children, 2 dogs (we miss you Sable), and 4 fish later (RIP Lulee Lala and ?), it is time to start a blog.  After our bonus baby, Andrew, was born, it became very obvious that if I didn't start writing things down, I would totally forget all of these "firsts" that we are so fortunate to be experiencing again.  As he is hitting milestones, we think back to when Lauryn and Alex were his age and it is all a blur.  Of course, we remember bits and pieces of things they did and said, but it saddens me to think about all the things I have forgotten.  Hopefully this blog will alleviate all of that and we will document major milestones (and remember) for all of our children :).  I should probably mention that I've never come close to winning any awards in the writing category, so apologies in advance if you are bored.

A little bit about our family...Daniel works for Arrow Electronics, Inc.  Don't ask me what he does because I don't know.  I do know that he reports to work, the location of his work, and that he receives a paycheck every 2 weeks.  That's all that matters really, right?!  I have been a registered nurse for 7ish years.  I manage the float pool at Littleton Adventist Hospital and absolutely love working there.  Lauryn will be eight in October.  She is and will always be the princess in the family.  She is as close to perfect I think a child can be.  This fall she will be entering the 2nd grade at Sandburg Elementary.  She currently loves to swim, play soccer, ski in the winter, play with her friends, have sleepovers, and anything in nature.  Alex will be six in September.  In the fall he will start Kindergarten at Sandburg Elementary.  He is really excited to finally start "real" school.  He is all boy and loves to play basketball, soccer, football, ski in the winter, swim, and anything his curious little mind can think up.  Andrew is three months and growing by the day.  Here we go with those milestones I was not going to forget ;).  He had a bit of a rough start after surprising us 3 weeks early on St. Patty's Day.  We came home from the hospital and at his 2 day post discharge check-up, his bilirubin level had doubled.  This sent us back to Children's Hospital for 2.5 more days for phototherapy.  It was the longest 2.5 days of my life.  I was on an emotional roller coaster, mostly from the postpartum hormones.  We were finally freed from the Children's Hospital jail, only to come home and find out that we would have to do lights at home.  This wasn't half as bad as being trapped and alone in the hospital, but it is so hard not cuddling your brand new baby at the same time.  Unfortunately, this all went on for a span of about 6 weeks before we got the "all clear."  At about the same time, Andrew smiled for the first time.  At about 9 weeks, he started cooing or "talking."  At his 2 month check-up, he was 11 lbs 1.1 oz., 1.11 ft., pulse 111...if you know me at all, you know my infatuation with the combination of "1's" and how superstitious I am.  I must have stood there with my jaw to the floor for no less than 5 minutes.  It was awesome.  The only downside to this appointment was Andrew was diagnosed with torticollis, which I had suspected.  Although very common in infants, it also is a pain to deal with.  At 3.5 months, he's still in physical therapy, but improving quickly.  We are hoping to be done with therapy in less than a month, then we will just work with him at home.  Recently, Andrew has found his fists and they have found his mouth.  The drool is starting to pour out of his mouth (or he's like his mama when he sleeps ;)) and I'm hoping he's not starting to teethe this early, although Lauryn did, so it wouldn't surprise me.  Within the last week or so, he has giggled to his favorite sound, snorting.  I'm happy to report that Lauryn and Alex argue over who gets to spend more time with him :).  We will see how long that lasts...

That's just a little recap of our sweet family.  Stay tuned for many more updates!