Cooking with Tori

I find cooking very stressful. I don't enjoy doing it by myself or with others. Tori, thank goodness, loves to cook and for some reason thinks it's really fun to let Skip and Zadie help out. I can't imagine why, but they love to help their momma in the kitchen and I think they look really cute in their aprons. Zadie has a funny look on her face in these photos and is wearing a funny shirt that I bought for Skip in China.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Skip really loves to take baths. Tori was running a bath and trying to get Zadie from the other room and when she came back into the bathroom she saw Skipper sitting in the water with his full outfit on, including his socks and leather shoes. Pretty funny!

Charlie's First Month

He's filling out in the cheeks!

Our rug matches Charlie's hair and his shirt.

Grandma Linda is here for two weeks to help us out -- much appreciated!

Zadie admiring her brand-new brother.

In the hospital to pick up Charlie, less than 24 hours after we got the surprise phone call!

Charlie turns five weeks old tomorrow (right?). Minus the big scare with the pyloric stenosis, Charlie is doing just great. He was so teensy tiny when we brought home and at first he had trouble gaining weight because he was vomiting, so now it's great to see him chug-a-lug. He weighed 6 lbs 6 oz at the time of his surgery and then exactly one week later he weighed 8 lbs 4 oz.

Although not nearly as beautiful as Kim's photos, here are some from Charlie's first month with the family. We love him and are so happy he's here -- even if he keeps us up at night!!

Charlie Gets Sick...and Then Better!

I haven't been very good about blogging lately, partly because our lives have been busier but even more so because the space bar on our keyboard at home came off and it's pretty frustrating to write more than one sentence. But Tori brought out our old laptop and I wanted to update about some crazy stuff that has happened in the last week.

Charlie started vomiting about 80% of his feedings and ultimately the doctors decided that he had a condition called pyloric stenosis. Basically a stomach muscle got too thick and wasn't allowing the milk to go down to his intestines (or at least that's what I understood). So I left the house at 8:30am one day to take him to the doctor, who then sent me to an x-ray place, and then the next thing I knew I was driving him to the hospital for emergency surgery.

Luckily the surgery is pretty straight-forward and this won't be something that will ever bother him again. He's not vomiting any of his meals now and he's doing great. As the doctor pointed out, three-week-olds don't really use their stomach muscles so the recovery is pretty easy.

Having said all that, seeing your little baby with a tube down his nose and an IV in his hand is AWFUL. And he couldn't eat for the whole day prior to the surgery and then for six hours afterwards. I felt so badly for him. But he did really well and Tori and I took turns staying the night with him in the hospital and holding him in our arms all night long.

So it was a very scary experience, but the good news is that Charlie has been back home for a few days now and is doing great. Hooray for that!

Introducing...Charlie!

After much discussion, we have settled upon a name. Charlie Wilson K. (I don't like to use my last name on the blog, but you all know it). Everyone in our family has the same middle and last name.

I like it. It's boyish and likeable, just like Skip. I think it will suit him nicely. Tori and Zadie still really love the name Ozzie, so that will continue as a nickname, too.

And although former Congressman Charlie Wilson is/was a little bit controversial, I think he's an intriguing character and I like that he's from East Texas! He also wrote my dad a letter when he got home from Vietnam.

And here are some more great photos of CHARLIE!!

A New Baby!

I haven't updated this blog about some very important news. A county social worker called to let us know that Skip's birth mom had another baby and of course we said YES, we'd love to bring him home. We had told the social workers not to call us about any kids UNLESS Skip's mom had another baby.

We weren't expecting the phone call this soon and were totally unprepared, but I want this sweet child to know that the occasion of his birth caused great excitement and hooting and hollering! Despite having less than 24 hours to comply with the county's requests for us to buy a bassinet, a new bed for Zadie and to outfit our house with locks on the cupboard, we were anxious and excited to bring our new baby home!!

So this sweet child was born on September 20th and we picked him up at California Hospital downtown around noon on September 22nd. His birth parents named him Ryan Michael, but we are still working on our own name for him (there are a few names in the running). The nurses told us that his birth parents were very upset that they couldn't take him home, but the county would not allow it because of their past histories (I just want to be clear that he is very much wanted and cared for!).

This situation is a little more complicated than Skip's but we sincerely hope that we will be able to keep him forever. He is a very good baby and has a sweet disposition. So far I would say that he is the best baby of the three! He doesn't look much like Skip, but ironically I think he looks a bit like Zadie at the same age. He only weighed 5 lbs, 12 oz at birth, so he is still pretty tiny.

Zadie is very excited to have another little brother and Skip is very interested but not clear on what is happening. As for the moms, we are sleep-deprived and a little befuddled about how to make three kids under three work, but we are also very much in love with our new baby.

More information to come...thank you to Kim for the beautiful photos!