Christine is already a month old! It’s hard to believe that the time has gone by so fast. I’ve posted pictures in the 20071104 Christine’s First Month gallery. Christine is not sleeping through the night yet (Lisa is very disappointed). She’s on a fairly regularly schedule, but still wakes up once in the night (sometime between 3 and 5 am). She doesn’t throw up nearly as much as she used to. When she wakes up in the morning, she seems to be in a great mood. She’s making a lot more baby noises now (gurgling, cooing, etc.) and this morning she made a noise that sounded like she was saying, “Daddy” (of course she wasn’t, but it sure did sound like it). The boys continue to love her. The smother her (sometimes almost literally) with hugs and kisses

Yesterday was Fast Sunday at Church, so I blessed Christine with Dad’s help in Sacrament meeting. Lisa had made a nice smocked gown for her and Christine managed to keep it clean all day. Lisa’s parents came down for the blessing, and then after Church we all gathered at our house for lunch. Everyone chipped in, and we had sandwiches, crackers and dip, cookies, ice cream cake, drinks, and more. I’ve posted pictures in the 20071104 Christine’s Blessing Day gallery.

Christine is now 3 weeks old! She went for a check-up on Wednesday. She’s doing great. She passed her hearing and PKU tests and has gained 11 ounces since birth (she is now 9lbs 6oz). The midwife could hear a mild heart murmur but wasn’t concerned. Apparently fetuses have a hole in their heart, and sometimes the flap doesn’t close right at birth . She’ll listen again at her 7 week check-up and it may have corrected itself by then. We’re not worried about it at all as Christine seems very healthy.

Christine is very strong, she doesn’t like to lay flat she always tries to pull her head up or tries to roll over. Even in her stroller she has to be sitting up. Overall, she is a very peaceful baby.

Graham has put up some pictures of her in the 20071025 Christine’s Third Week gallery…

Christine is already two weeks old! She is awake more than before, and when she is awake, she’s a lot more alert. We know she can’t see very much around her, but it always seems like she’s investigating something.

So far, she only cries when she’s hungry. She’ll fuss a bit when she’s got gas, but once that passes (pun intended), she’s fine. She wakes up once or twice during the night. Lisa’s been trying to get her on a schedule, but it takes a while.

Lisa’s Mom has been a big help. We’ve joked that Christine is going to go through withdrawals because Grandma won’t be holding her all the time (Grandma will deny that). She’s helped Lisa keep up with stuff during the day, and also taken each of the boys out for some alone time.

I’ve posted some pictures of Christine from her second week…

Christine is already a week old and doing very well. The midwife came over yesterday and weighed her. She hasn’t gained back her weight, but they aren’t concerned as all other signs point to a healthy baby.

Andrew and Matthew love her very much. Andrew will sing to her, and Matthew does a scary face because supposedly she likes it.

Lisa’s trying to get her on a schedule for feedings. Last night she slept for a 6-hour stretch, so they’re making progress.

You can see more pictures of Christine in the Christine’s First Week gallery…

Well, she finally came! We got to the hospital this morning at about 7:30 and within an hour or so they started the medication to induce labour. By around 10:30 Lisa was starting to experience some strong contractions. The contractions kept getting stronger. She had a shot of Morphine to help with the pain. At around 12:30 she was crying because of the pain, so the midwife had her start pushing. At 12:46 Christine was born! She was 8 lb 11 oz and was 22.75″ long.

I’ve put up a gallery of pictures of her first few hours. You can view them in the 20071004 Christine’s Day 1 gallery.

I can’t believe it. I’m finally caught up!  I’ll try to post things as they happen instead of putting them all up at once.

Here are the last (and most recent) galleries:

• 20070728 – 20070801 Buckhorn – The annual trip up to Buckhorn is always fantastic. Graham went up for a few days, and then dropped off the boys at Lisa’s parent’s house on the way home. Lisa stayed up at the cottage for the full week.
• 20070905 and 20070910 Andrew’s First Day of School and Taking the Bus – Andrew started Junior Kindergarten this year. There is a phased in start to the school where the kids go with a parent, and then for a regular day but in a smaller class. Everyone is together at the start of the second week. That is also when the bus starts. Andrew is taking the bus to school this year and is very excited about it.
• 20070924 Bronto’s Adventure Playland – There is a new attraction on Clifton Hill called Bronto’s Adventure Playland. It is essentially just a big indoor jungle gym. The boys loved it!

Since the baby still isn’t here yet (most of us aren’t very good guessers), I’ve put up some more galleries:

• 20070625 Andrew and Matthew Sleeping – One evening we went into the boys bedroom to say good night, and this is the way they were sleeping.
• 20070626 Andrew’s Last Day of School – Andrew made it through his first year of school!
• 20070630 Matthew’s Birthday Party – As we’ve done previously, Matthew’s family birthday party was held at Happy Rolph’s
• 20070706 and 2007072 at Marineland – We all have seasons passes to Marineland this year, so we have gone a several times.
• 20070722 Andrew’s Family Birthday Party – On the Sunday before Andrew’s birthday, we had a family party for him
• 20070727 Andrew’s 5th Birthday – Andrew turned 5 this year. We had a family party a few days before, and he was having a friend birthday party the next day, so we didn’t do much on his actual birthday. I went to McDonald’s in the morning and got him “morning french fries” and we put a candle on it for him.
• 20070728 Andrew’s Birthday Party – Andrew had his first friend birthday party this year. We had setup a mini-golf course and the kids played around and and had hotdogs and timbits. I think they all had a good time.

The next ones to go up are from Buckhorn…

I’m way behind on posting pictures to the family gallery. I guess I’ve found other things to do on those boring Saturday’s at work.

Anyway, tonight I got 3 galleries from earlier in the year put up:

• 20070421 Ball’s Falls – Brianna went with us to Ball’s Falls in the spring. It was a beautiful day. The trees hadn’t started to bud yet, but the moss was green, which made for great scenery. There is a great picture of Brianna with the boys.
• 20070609 Toronto Zoo – This is from our annual trip to the Toronto Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Rowland. It was probably our best trip ever. The weather was great, and there were lots of animals out.
• 20070616 Father’s Day – These are pictures from our family dinner at Nanny’s house.

The other day I was walking through the parking lot at work and noticed this red blob on the ground. It may not have been hot enough to cook an egg, but I guess it was hot enough to melt a crayon.