Thanksgiving 2009

With Baby Owen only 10 days old, we decided to stay in Nashville this year for Thanksgiving. I had mixed emotions about it. It is the first time that I have spent a major holiday away from any family with the exception of a ski trip in college. However, we wanted to give Owen a little more time to get his immune system up before getting slathered with hugs and kisses from all the relatives.

The girls played dress-up with real make up. Luckily, Owen did not have to participate, although I am sure it is only a matter of time before they have him in dresses and heels.

We took a morning trek to the neighborhood playground so the girls could run off some energy, which they followed with some nice naps.

Then my wonderful hubby cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I contributed the green bean casserole, but he did everything else. As you can see below, Owen stretched out and took a nice nap after his Thanksgiving dinner.

We took the day to reflect back on the year and the many blessings for which we are thankful. We are especially thankful that Owen joined our family this year. He is the sweetest, cuddliest baby who rarely fusses and just likes to snuggle up with you. He is already blessed with his two sisters who just adore him and fight over who gets to hold him. We are thankful for our families who offer us all such love and support. We really missed them this Thanksgiving, but know that we were on their minds and in their hearts even though were were not there. We are thankful that we have a nice roof over our heads and have never had to experience a truly hungry belly. We give thanks for jobs that we love when there are many who have no jobs at all. And we are thankful for our friends. I am especially thankful for a husband who is a true partner in my life and is with me every step of the way on the adventure of parenthood. 

First Bath and other pics from today

Bathing is not Owen's favorite activity.

We also took some pictures of Owen in his new room. For now he is bunking with mom and dad, but he likes his own Boy room too. Glad they were right about him being a boy or we would have been in trouble.

Owen's first outing--What a beautiful day

Snoozing in the stroller

Ellie walking the bridge

Katelyn and daddy looking at the fish

A view of the Harpeth from the bridge

We were going a bit stir crazy today and it was so beautiful, so we took a family outing to the Harpeth soccer fields. Alan kicked the soccer ball around with the girls and Owen and I went on a little walk on the greenway. He still has a small tint of jaundice, so we wanted to get him outside for a bit and we couldn't resist the awesome November weather.

Home from the Hospital

We brought Baby Owen home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. It was so nice to be home. He is such a sweet little snuggler, sleeps a lot and rarely cries. He was greeted by the dogs who did a lot of sniffing, found him to be harmless and then went about their business.

After school is when the real chaos began. The girls were super excited to get home and see Owen. They were smothering him with kisses and hugs and lots of love. The noise decibel increased ten-fold, but Owen handled it like a champ. They even tried to help change his diaper, but weren't up to the challenge yet.

The first night was not so smooth. I never knew there was such an art to swaddling, but I am woefully inadequate. Turns out that while in the hospital and swaddled, Owen sleeps about 4 hours at a time at night, but in Casa Calhoun with terrible swaddlers, he wakes up every hour or so. It appeared we needed lessons because the first night was rough.

Night two, we got smart. We bought two velcro swaddling blankets and they worked like a charm. Owen slept for four hours at a time. We hope it continues. The best part of my days continue to be the times when he snuggles up to me and naps. I had forgotten how much babies sleep at this age and how angelic they look doing so.

Sleeping peacefully at the hospital

Introducing Owen Richard Calhoun

We added a new member to our family today. . . Owen Richard Calhoun. Contractions started at about 6 am, although my stubborn self did not recognize them as the real thing until about 8 am. I was dressed and ready to go to work, but luckily, my wonderful hubby decided not to risk it and took the kids to school. In the midst of his travels, I called him to let him know that we definitely needed to think about going to the hospital when he got back. Headed to the hospital at about 8:30 am, checked in at 9 am and was 7-8 cm when we got there. I almost missed out on getting an epidural and knew I was in trouble when the nurse asked if I was going natural. Now having done that before, that was not a mistake I wanted to make again. It took almost an hour to get the anesthesiologist to come by and by then I was probably at about 8-9 cm. I just kept thinking, "I do not want to do this unmedicated again." For those who know my husband, he likes to describe the last time when he claims my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I looked like the exorcist chick, but enough of that.

So with my nice epidural, I proceeded to push Baby Owen out in about 10 minutes and our family became a family of five at 11 am when Owen entered this world weighing a hefty 8 lbs and 9 ounces--I am sure the product of my chocolate addiction.  Unfortunately, with my speedy delivery, my mom missed it again. She and Sherry arrived about an hour after Owen entered this world.  The girls came by this evening and loved on Baby Owen. Katelyn's natural motherly instincts took over and she started kissing on him and singing him lullabies. They both got right up in the bed with him and loved all over him. All is going well and we expect to be home on Wednesday sometime.

Baby Owen

Daddy and Owen

Mommy and Owen

Big Sister Ellie

Katelyn loving on Owen

The new Calhoun Family

One week left

Is it possible that I really only have one week left as a family of four? I feel like these last 9 months have really flown. We are excited about our upcoming new arrival, but with him comes a new way of life. . . more kids than adults. . . we lose the divide and conquer. . .sleepless nights, diapers, living with someone who is dependent on you 24 hours a day. Wow. Is it possible that I had forgotten all that stuff?  On the upside, Katelyn and Ellie also gain a little brother. Now the poor thing may become part of their beauty salon or be dressed up as a princess, but he will receive overwhelming love from his big sisters and will be trained in the ways of women. Ellie is excited to be both a Big Sister AND and a Little Sister. The room is ready and so are we!!!!!!!!! I plan to finish out work on Tuesday, hopefully have a few days to myself this week, and then am prepared for the arrival of Baby Boy Calhoun next weekend. Keep us all in your prayers over the next week that we have a safe delivery and healthy baby boy.

Katelyn's last soccer game

Saturday was the last soccer game of the season. The Ladybugs took the field with only four girls so they all got to play the entire game and everybody had the chance to play goalie. Katelyn scored a goal and protected the goal during her rotation so that no one scored. She was exhausted at the end, but had a good time.

How I got into this mess

We were at a friend's birthday party last weekend and one of their friends was taking funny photos. I think this one speaks to how I got myself into this mess :)

My Princesses

Last night I had two little princesses trick-or-treating. They have been talking about their costumes and Halloween for two months and were so excited to finally get to premier as Belle and Cinderella. I was expecting my mom and step-dad to come in for the weekend to visit and enjoy Halloween with us and was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Aunt Joyce and cousin Allison came in Larry's place. It was an impromptu girls weekend with LOTS of Chocolate and fun.

Making Cupcakes with Grandma

Ellie debuting as Cinderella

Katelyn as Princess Belle. Notice the brown curls.

My first chaperone trip

Katelyn's class took a trip to Gentry Farm today. It was my first opportunity to chaperone. The kids had a great time despite the rain. We had to eat lunch in the back of my van, but they thought it was fun anyway. All three kindergarten classes went on the trip with a ton of moms and two dads.

Pumpkin Carving

The girls have been asking for weeks when we would carve our pumpkins, so today we ventured into the world of Pumpkin carving. The girls loved putting their hands in the ooey gooey mess, especially Katelyn, and Ellie focused on picking out all the seeds from the mess. With daddy's help, they made a decent looking Jack-O-Lantern face.

Cheer Girl

Last Friday night Katelyn had the opportunity to be a Cheer Girl at a CPA football game. She talked about it for weeks. Despite the cold, she did a fabulous job and was super enthusiastic, especially with her kicks. Check out her in the video. She is near the end on the left first row.

Betty Crocker

Found this picture on my camera today of Ellie cleaning up after making me brownies for my birthday.

Cross Point Fair at Owen Farm

Yesterday was a beautiful day! Our family took advantage of the beautiful weather to attend Cross Point's Fair at Owen Farm. The girls had a blast. The day included a Corn Maze, Super long slide, a sandbox filled with corn that the girls tried to bury themselves in, inflatables, petting zoo, pumpkin patch, snow cones, smores, fall treats, etc. Lots of kids and fun!!!!! We really enjoyed the family time.

Corn Sandbox

Milkin a cow

Duck races

Finishing the corn maze

Taking a break in the corn maze

My health manager

Not sure what they are teaching Ellie at school lately, but she is obsessed with healthy foods. Alan bought some ice cream before he left and I have been tempted to just toss it because I cannot control myself with it in the house. While pregnant with Katelyn I gained 13 pounds in one month due to ice cream overload. So I decided we would try to finish the ice cream off as a family tonight and get rid of it. While Katelyn was practicing soccer, Ellie and I went on a walk. When I mentioned dessert for the night, thinking she'd be excited, she paused and informed me that she couldn't have ice cream because "I eat healthy now." What? A 3 year old turning down ice cream. That was followed by, is cake healthy. However, after a little more thought, she informed me that we could have ice cream and that we would start being healthy tomorrow. Rationalizing her ice cream at 3--what is in store for her at 20? And I must say, the ice cream was delicious.

The room is almost done--All boy

We finished the touch ups tonight, so the room is boy. Boy Blue with lots of sports. All that is left is to find some matching wall decor. The girls love it. Now we just have to wait for the baby. I had an appointment on Thursday and all looks good. We have 7 weeks left after tomorrow. On some days I feel like I have been pregnant forever, but then on others, it seems to be just flying by. My favorite part of the day is in the evenings when I am winding down and he starts moving all over the place. I think the hustle and bustle of the day rocks him to sleep, but the quiet and calm of the evening wakes him up.

Katelyn helping us paint. We let her use one of her small watercolor brushes.

The girls taking a break to just laugh and play.

Playing in the rain over the last two weeks.