Holiday Haps

Tyler and Kathryn got married. It was a great day. It would have been even better if we didn't have sick kids. Sick kids + wedding, luncheon, and reception= chaos and exhaustion; nonetheless, we are so happy to have her as part of the fam.


This cute little guy and his mom spent some time in the hospital thanks to RSV. Just about all of us are dealing with some sort of illness, but the baby got the worst of it. It is heartbreaking to watch your little baby suffer.


We had our traditional paella dinner (my brother had to cook it in the garage because it is free-zing in WA...and check out my sister-in-law three weeks after giving birth, why can't I look that great?). The Foxes came over to help us eat it and it was great catching up with them.

Happy 2008!

Chubby Cheeks

Ian weighs 12 pounds. He put on 5 pounds in five weeks and there is no sign that he is going to slow down anytime soon. He is proficient in cooing and I can't get enough. If only he could sleep through the night. We are having a great time at Grandma's house, despite some nasty colds and freezing cold weather. Brrr.

Santa Drama

We just got back from our church Christmas breakfast. Max ate lots of bacon because he was allergic to everything else. The Scoville boys both got their picture taken with Santa. One was a happy baby, one was a cry baby.

Max has had so much blood work done lately, so many shots, and other medical procedures that he is scared of EVERYONE. Even Santa. He is 18 months old and is finally suffering from separation anxiety.

Coping...

Motherhood is amazing. It intensifies so many emotions (fear, happiness, exhaustion, exhilaration...) and, for me, puts so many things into perspective. I've learned to let go. To surrender when situations are out of my control. To accept and love my children no matter what they do.


After Ian was born, he decided not to eat. I spent 48 straight hours trying to get him to nurse (Max never had any problems in this department). Finally, after logging several hours with a lactation consultant, he latched on and started eating. A few seconds later the toilet in my room came to life and started spewing like a fire hose. Within minutes the whole wing of the hospital was flooding and I was ordered to evacuate. I informed the staff that I finally got my baby to eat, and that I wasn't going to move so much as an inch until he was finished. I would rather wade through raw sewage than risk breaking his latch. Before long they unplugged my bed and started pushing me (half-dressed and still nursing) through the sewage to sanitary safety. I was so happy Ian was finally eating that nothing else mattered. Not even raw sewage. Perspective.


Max has had many close calls. After surviving a nasty fall and a four inch skull fracture, I was so happy to have him around that I never once minded waking up at night to feed him. After this horrible day, every tantrum-filled day feels like a happy holiday.

Luckily for me, I've had a taste of how bad it can be. That's why it's no big deal that Max commits the following offenses on a daily basis:

-opens the dishwasher and throws breakables onto the floor, shattering them
-takes all of the clothes out of all of our dressers and makes strategic piles
-climbs onto the couch and tries to jump off the back
-undecorates the lower half of the Christmas tree
-undoes the child locks on kitchen drawers and distributes measuring cups, dish towels, etc. around the house
-takes all of the diapers out of the baskets in the change table and throws them around the house
-takes all the books out of our bookcase
-opens the pantry and dumps the contents of the cereal boxes onto the floor

Perspective is a good thing.

3 weeks

Ian has survived the first 3 weeks, despite Max's attempts to take him out of the picture. He has not only survived, but thrived. This baby has gained over 3 pounds in the past three weeks. I have been in mourning as I pack away the newborn clothes and diapers and pull the 3-6 month clothes out of storage...

Feeling outnumbered

Here is a shot of the Scoville boys. A mighty handsome bunch. We'll have to get J-P some Christmas PJ's.


Grandma leaves tomorrow. I think Max will have a hard time...he has grown quite attached. He definitely prefers his spry, doting grandma over his tired, sore mama.

Day Twelve

The baby is growing so fast. Too fast. I wish I could skim down my milk...I'm not prepared for another super-sized baby. He is pretty darn cute, but I'm biased of course. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, thanks to my mom. She even made the stuffing with homemade, gluten-free cornbread and rice bread so Max could eat it too. I can't believe Christmas is around the corner. There is no time to lose the baby weight in time for Christmas card pictures. Oh well.

Check out our latest pics on flickr

Day Six

Ian is great baby. He loves to eat, snuggle, and sleep. He rarely cries. Max is having a blast playing outside with Grandma. We are so lucky she is here.


Mom has been trying to recuperate from going three full days and nights without sleep and having unexpected surgery. Dad is busy changing diapers, entertaining Max, and helping out.

Ian has been very patient with Max's hugs, kisses, and love pats (see above picture). Hopefully he survives.

New Addition

Ian William Scoville

...arrived at 5:40 a.m. on Monday. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 21 inches long. J-P took this picture seconds after he was born. The induction went well (the gel immediately brought on strong contractions), and the birth went better than last time. The doctor did some reconstructive surgery afterward to repair the damage from delivery number one.

Ian and I had a rough couple of days (no eating or sleeping), but we are finally home and things are going great now. He is a sweet baby and has been patient with his affectionate older brother. We are so excited to have him here. I'll try to post more pictures as soon as I catch up on sleep. In the meantime check out flickr.

Busy Waiting...

While I have been anxiously awaiting a call from the hospital (induction), Max has been very busy keeping me on my feet. Gravity is definitely on my side here. I have been chasing him around the house as he tears apart all of the cleaning and organizing I've been doing. He has packed and unpacked my hospital bag several times, each time adding random treasures that he finds around the house.

When he's done tearing apart the house, we move to the backyard so he can continue his destruction. Today he ate an unusually large amount of mud. I still can't figure out why he likes it and goes back for more. I suppose I need to learn to contain my reaction.


I don't normally let him get this out of hand, but he had to endure another fasting blood test this morning so I let him go crazy when we got home to compensate for the trauma. Max + no breakfast = lots of tears. Poor kid. We also had to collect a urine sample- not easy to do when your child is not potty trained. Hopefully we will have some answers about his thyroid trouble soon.