things to remember

just a few things I want to document and remember...

you know how babies and kids are so cute you just want to eat them up? and how you tell your kids that and then give them hugs and kisses, all the while pretending you are gobbling up their cute little ears, toes, fingers, noses, etc? yeah, that's what I've done. and anna totally plays along all the time and tells me she's going to eat me up because she loves me so much, etc, etc. the other day she said yet again how she was going to eat me up and we laughed and giggled. then a few minutes later, in all seriousness, anna asks, "mom, if you eat a person does your belly hurt?" don't worry, no one in the maynard family has actually attempted to eat another member of the maynard family...yet. ;) I told her that yes, your belly would hurt a lot and that people aren't supposed to eat other people, to which she replied, "oh, okay!" and went on with her non-cannibalistic day. glad we got that cleared up.

I feel like things that go on facebook eventually disappear forever. the following may be items you've already seen on our facebook pages. but I have to put them on here so they don't disappear into the facebook ether! so, sorry for the repeats!

today anna and cate were both playing school in their room (separately).  anna was sitting on a chair and had an illustrated version of the Bible that she was reading to the "kids" (i.e. a stuffed frog and bear). I was pulling her hair back to get ready for trick-or-treating tonight, and she just kept on playing, reading to the students. one of the things she said: "This is about Jesus' wife." already shaking up the establishment at just 3 years old...look out, Dan Brown!

when jess was here last week, she played a lot of school with the girls. amazingly cate let jess play the teacher and even told jess that she SHOULD be a real teacher. jess, you must have done a fabulous job playing! anyway, cate was writing up a report card for anna and told jess that the report was going to say that anna was doing good. when cate handed it over, jess immediately came out to the living room to show us the report...perhaps to make sure we got on top of the situation with anna immediately.

yup, anna apparently has been booing God at school. bad anna! ;) we loved how cate had no clue what she had actually written, and that God was even capitalized! sooooo funny.

okay, last thing. as we all know stanford football is doing really well this year. and as many of us know (especially me) Nate has been a true fan since we moved here years ago, so this season has been very exciting. as a result, there has been a lot of football talk and football watching in our house the last month or so. the other morning we were watching College GameDay on ESPN - they were broadcasting from USC, where Stanford would be playing later in the day. at one point Nate said, "I hope Coach Corso picks Stanford to win." Cate looked up at him and said (in all seriousness, mind you, even though it sounds like a taunt, but makes it even funnier because it is NOT a taunt), "If they don't, will you cry?"

Owen, 1 Month

Today is Owen's 1 month birthday. Happy Birthday, Owen!! I can't believe he is already a month old. Time FLIES. It always makes me sad when I can describe my baby's age in terms of months instead of just weeks or days. It means they're growing up. I know, 1 month isn't old, but it's oldER. I hate it. And love it. :)

This blog is more for me than for anyone...a place to write things down that I want to remember. So here are a few things about Owen I want to remember from Month One.

• His arrival was far too exciting for my taste. But despite the scare at the beginning, Owen has been healthy and happy ever since. When Owen was 5 days old, we went in for a weight check, where we discovered that he was drinking about 2 ounces per feeding, as opposed to the expected 1-2 teaspoons. We haven't worried that he was getting enough food since.
• The kid always looks concerned and or worried. The furrowed brow is his default face. It's pretty darn cute, actually.

• Owen has already gone through several phases. Phase 1: eats regularly, sleeps all the time. Phase 2: Eats ALL the time...like every hour, or less. Phase 3: Grumpy Gus - whenever he's awake, he's grumpy, and he has a hard time falling asleep, and he keeps his mom up for 2-3 hours at a time at night...this phase nearly killed me, but thankfully only lasted a week. We are currently in Phase 4: Far less grumpy, goes back to sleep after night feedings (which are still happening a few times a night, but whatever), just all around easier baby to deal with than the Phase 3 baby.
• We have had TONS of visitors to help out. Grandpa Hans was here the week before Owen was born and got to meet him the day before he left town. Grandma Phyllis arrived the day before he was born and was here a week to help out while we were in the hospital and during those first few days home. At that point we weren't expecting any help until mid-October, which put me in to serious panic mode. Thankfully, Auntie Anne came the day after Phyllis left and helped for a few days, then Cousin Sara Beth came for a few days as well - both last minute trips, both unbelievably helpful. I do NOT know what we would have done without those ladies. We had 5 or 6 days alone (unfortunately coinciding with Phase 3, see above!), and then Tia Hannah arrived for a week. The day after Hannah left, Jessica arrived! Jess is here now (thanks for giving her up for us, Cuyler!) and then Mimi comes next week. I believe that this has been the only bonus of having an emergency c-section...all of this wonderful family stepping up and saving the day...and we've gotten so much one-on-one time with them, it's really been wonderful.
• Owen smiled (FOR REAL) the first time last Thursday October 20. Of course he hasn't done much smiling since, so I don't think anyone really believes me...but they were real live smiles, I swear. It was the cutest thing ever.

• Since Jessica has arrived, Owen is getting stronger and stronger by the minute. Jess has noticed a difference in his ability to hold his head up since Friday already. It totally makes him seem older...which he is. The floppy newborn phase is definitely coming to a close very soon.
• Today, as a birthday present to himself, Owen tinkled all over himself, and completely missed me. He had blasted out of his diaper, so while I was cleaning his back, his you-know-what was pointed right at his head while I held his legs up. Of course I was clueless, and when I put his legs back down the poor thing was SOAKED. Hair, face, ears, chest. Jess said when I carried him to the bath, there was tinkle dripping off his ear. Poor kid! But it was really funny.
• Owen likes taking a bath. The first bath of course he screamed. The second bath, not quite as loud of a scream, but still crying. But ever bath since he's been calm and happy. In fact, he gets mad when I take him out!
• Owen loves his swing, and he loves staring up at the mirror and the birds that turn in circles.
• Owen's big sisters love him to pieces. The first thing they want to see when they wake up (especially Cate) is Owen. Cate especially can't get enough of him. It's very sweet.
• Owen weighed 6 pounds 19 ounces at birth and 7 pound 4 ounces on October 10. Who knows what he is now...probably around where the girls were when they were born!

I think that's all the "milestones" I wanted to get down, at least for now!

We love you, Owen! Happy Birthday!!!

Here is Owen and what has been dubbed by Jess as his "Growth Giraffe" - I'll take a picture of him with it each month!

Real Funny, Nate.

Last night was brutal. Owen kept me up forEVER so I'm pretty tired today. He was asleep this afternoon so I put him in his bed and he actually stayed asleep, so I was looking forward to another {mostly likely too short} nap. Of course when I went in the room to lay down, about 30 seconds in Owen started making noises, then I heard a big BLAST and sure enough, he pooped and woke himself up. Defeated, I got up and took Owen out to the family room to change him.

When I walked in the room, I said to Sara Beth (who is here being a HUGE help right now) and Nate, "Guess who's bowels woke him up from R.E.M. sleep just now?"

Nate replied, "Yours?"

Hardy har har. Actually, I did laugh. Pretty hard. Reminded me a lot of this conversation. Glad I married someone funny.

Announcing Owen Nathaniel Maynard

It's true. We finally had our baby boy! Owen Nathaniel Maynard entered the world with a big splash (more on that in a moment) on Sunday, September 25. He is lucky enough to share a birthday with his mommy. Owen's birth was certainly was the best birthday present I've ever received! Owen weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. We didn't name him until today...I wasn't kidding when we said we didn't have a name going into this! But we are really excited about Owen and it fits him perfectly. And I really wanted to name him after his daddy, hence Nathaniel. He is doing very well health-wise and is a great sleeper and eater (at least for now!). We are beyond overjoyed to have welcomed him to our little family.

This will forever be engrained in our memories as the week when two Maynard girls ended up in unexpected surgery under general anesthesia. As if Cate's broken arm and operation weren't enough , Owen's birth proved to be just as, shall we say, exciting.

Sunday was the 41 week mark for the pregnancy. We were scheduled to go in that morning for an induction, but I started having contractions Saturday night and we ended up at the hospital 3 hours earlier than we had planned. Everything was calm and progressing steadily, and in fact Nate and I got a little bit of sleep that morning (after I had literally been up the entire night timing contractions on the iPad). My contractions slowed down a bit, so they started me on pitocin, at which point I decided to get an epidural. The epidural went in and not long after that my water broke, which is when the craziness ensued. I will not go into all the gory details, but essentially the water breaking caused some complications, which led to a prolapsed umbilical cord (the cord comes out before the baby). From the moment they discovered the prolapsed cord to Owen's birth was only 6 minutes...I was whisked so quickly into the OR both of our heads were spinning. I ended up having to go under general anesthesia (if you want the details on THAT I'll have to tell you in person!), but woke up fine and met our sweet little man about 2 hours after his birth. Needless to say I was a blubbering basket case when Nate rolled him into our postpartum room. I have never been more happy to take someone in my arms and shower them with love.

Owen is beautiful and perfect and we are so grateful he has joined our family. He is simply perfect and his presence is a miracle.

Without further ado...pictures. And lots of 'em. To see them up closer, just click on the photos.

This is his serious pose.

This is what Anna would do when she was little...suck thumb, pull ear!

This picture makes me cry. This is right after I met Owen (two hours later than I should have)...it captures so much for me.

I love this photo.

And this one.

The girls are SO cute with him.

Pictured: two proud sisters and two grandparents who literally saved the day the last two weeks. Don't know what we would have done without them through all the craziness.

Anna was SO cute the first time she met Owen. Really really sweet.

Cate was SO cute, too. Can't wait until the cast is off and she can hold him on her own!

Cate Home from the Hospital

Just downloaded photos from my camera. Took these on Tuesday night when Cate came home from the hospital. These photos are just too sweet. P.S. She is much happier and more energetic now. :) The dog is Frankie (Frank for short, Cate tells us). Frankie was a gift from one of the ER nurses. P.S. #2: People who work in pediatrics are angels.

Update!

Thought I would take a second to do a quick update on happenings in the Maynard home!

First off, we originally scheduled our induction for Baby Boy Maynard for tomorrow, 9/23. But we've moved it out two days to Sunday, 9/25...yup, my birthday! Cate woke up in the middle of the night last night in a lot of pain, so we wanted to put a couple more days between her surgery and the baby's birth. And, by inducing on Sunday, Grandma Phyllis will be here when we head to the hospital, so Grandma and Grandpa can tag-team taking care of the girls the day we have the baby instead of leaving Grandpa Hans alone with an invalid 6-year-old and stubborn 3-year-old (both of which are super duper cuties, btw!). This new date should be better for everyone involved!

Second, here's the Cate update! As many of you know, Cate broke her arm on Monday night. She fell off a zipline at the playground after soccer practice. No parents saw the actual event, so we're not entirely sure how the arm broke. Regardless, it was a really good break, which necessitated surgery with an orthopedic surgeon. She had to spend the night at the hospital on Monday, then surgery on Tuesday. They did not have to cut open her skin and only had to put in two pins instead of the 4 they originally thought. After recovering at the hospital all day, we brought her home Tuesday night. We met with the surgeon today and it looks like she has to have this cast and the pins for 3 weeks, then she'll just be in a sling for 1 week after that. Woo-hoo! It's amazing how FAST those young bones can heal.  She is being a really good girl. As long as we've got medicine in her, she's not in much pain and she's moving around quite well today. In fact, she's going to try to going to school tomorrow. Yea!

So, that's the latest. No baby tomorrow. Unless he decides to come on his own, of course. But I'm not holding my breath. If I didn't go into labor through all this arm business, I don't think anything can put me into labor on my own!

Cate the Feminist...even under dire circumstances

Right now Nate is taking Cate to the emergency room. She hurt her arm on the playground after soccer practice. I'm praying it's not broken...everyone pray along, please! (Especially considering we're one day past the due date for Baby Boy...good timing, eh?)

My dad was with them and he was just telling me about how he was asking Cate where it hurt. They narrowed it down to the elbow area. He said to Cate, "When you go to the emergency room, make sure you point out exactly where it hurts to the doctor so he can help you."

She's in a lot of pain, crying, not happy, and without a lost beat said, "Or her."

Gotta love that girl. Poor little thing...

UPDATE: Her arm is broken. Bad break above the elbow, and the orthopaedic surgeon has to reposition the elbow before the cast. Poor little Cate...Nate says she's really out of it, which I guess is better than being in lots of pain. Poor girl. Send happy vibes her way!

All She Wants for Christmas...

On Monday, Cate's second top front tooth came out, so she is officially without her two front teeth! Just in time, too, as the first one is already starting to grow in!

Anna's First Day of School

Today was Anna's first day of school! Unlike last year, she knew what she was going into and was genuinely excited, in her quiet Anna kind of way. She is going to the same classroom and has the same teachers as last year, so I think that helps, especially with with her personality.

She also was much more cooperative with the 1st day of school photo shoot before we left this morning. She had picked out her outfit and was more than ready to say "cheese" for the camera. (Although, last year's non-cooperation did yield some pretty awesome photos of her cute and sometimes funny little face!)

She was cuddly during drop-off, but had no problem when we left. Our little girl is growing up!

When Nate went to take the picture of Anna and me together, Anna was so cute and told him to make sure to get baby brother in the picture too. What a sweetie.

First Haircut and First Grade!

Last week Anna had her FIRST HAIRCUT! Yes, she's almost 4 and it's the first time scissors have touched her hair. Since she's so old, it was painless and easy. She was such a good girl! The lock I kept for her {sorely neglected} baby book has a tinge of green from a summer of swimming!

Cate got a haircut too. She's an old pro. This time we put some long layers in and her hair is as gorgeous as ever!

Yesterday Cate started FIRST GRADE. I can't believe we have a first grader. It blows me away. Her first grade teacher seems wonderful. She loves frogs and has them all over the classroom, and she reminds us of Ms. Glass from the Fancy Nancy books.

She may be a big first grader, but her book bag reminds us how small she still is.

Cate has her very own desk for the first time ever. She gets to go to recess three times a day. And she's uber excited about a family reading party that their class will be having at some point. She separately gave Nate and I the rundown on that event in great detail. I am just so excited for her to learn how to read on her own. I think she's going to love it. It's going to be a good year!

Walking to school on the big day.

Cate sitting at her new desk, back center. First grade parents weren't allowed to go in the classroom, so I had to snap a shot from the door. And I had no idea that kid in orange blocked the shot...stinker.