1, 2, 3

(3 month photo shoot)

It's hard to believe it's already been 3 months with this little one! We (finally) feel like we are settling into more of a routine with him. We definitely went through 7 weeks of "I'm only going to sleep during the day for 30 or 45 minutes, cry lots, and also still wake a few times at night to eat." That. was. rough. Add to that some serious growth spurts at 4, 6 & 8 weeks and then at 3 months, and you can imagine we've been a little tired. But its been a couple of weeks now of more consistent naps and about two weeks of sleeping mostly through the night. He is also smiling a ton now, holding his head up really well, and laughing some too. He rarely cries now when he is awake unless he is hungry or tired.

There is never a dull moment in life with three ages 5 and under, but I've been writing down a few things about Everett to record here when I finally had time to sit down...

(1 month photo shoot)

Grayson is so sweet with him, and now at 3 months, she can get him to laugh the most out of all of us. She is gentle and kind and speaks to him tenderly. Finley spins around him like she has ants in her pants and he has a hard time tracking her down. But she is enthusiastic about him and says things like "him have fikey (spikey) hair!" and "him filed (smiled) at me!". My favorite Finley phrase was when I had asked her (for the 1000th time) to please stop touching his face to which she says "but him have chubby cheeks!".

(3 month photo shoot)

In months 1-2, he sneezed a lot and spit up even more. He started on Zantac at week 2 after we had a solid week of him not wanting to sleep on his back at night. He then moved to Prevacid like the girls, but is now back down to only 1/2 tab of Prevacid and I think the reflux is much better. Starting about week 3, he stopped wanting to snuggle over our shoulders. Instead, he arches his back and holds his head back more than any infant at that age that I've seen. He rocked tummy time early on. I'm still holding out that the snuggling will return. He will finally settle down in the ergo for short periods of time. He is still swaddled in the miracle blanket, but consistently breaks free at night and has to be reswaddled after his hands start attacking his face. He likes the paci but keeps trying to find that thumb like his sisters.

Even in the middle of the exhaustion and adjustment, we are all pretty smitten over this addition to our family!

Name that baby...

 

Day 3

Millie and Everett are doing well. Both are sleeping right now. Heading home today.

He's here

And Everett Wilds Smith is a big one. 10lbs 2oz and born face up! Hooray!

Waiting

At 5cm still. Might be a while. Hope no one got us anything embroidered with 4/4/13.

Resting up and waiting

Drugs

Millie is on the drugs now to speed up contractions and she also got an epidural. And the 90s boy band '98 Degrees' was on 3 different NBC morning shows this morning...all good things!

(Millie's Instagram pic)

Getting Started

Started the meds to get this show on the road. Now we get to watch TV and wait.

Interior: After. The upstairs: part 2.

This wall in our master bedroom has gone through quite a few changes. It started off with the sliding glass door to the porch that we had to remove, and now has been updated to one big window (with blinds! yay!) instead of chopped up windows.

(master bedroom)

Our bathroom was one of our big DIY projects.

(master bath)


(master closet, reorganized for better function)

This last room on the tour is one space that we particularly loved when we first saw the house. We call it the "bonus room". It houses art supplies and creative play for the kids, along with our office gear and craft and sewing gear of mine. It also has a huge walk-in closet that's great for games and more craft and kid fun storage. And yes, that's a swing hanging from the ceiling (Ikea). It does have hooks in the ceiling so it can be put away when needed.

(bonus room)





 
Although our own little family is gradually filling and enjoying the house, we are really thankful the Lord has given us this space to be able to invite people into our home to love on them and do life together. We've been able to host house concerts, parties, big meetings, and bible studies. Twice a month our couples' small group with 10 adults and 12 children comes over with dinners and enough gear to put all 12 children to bed for a time while we meet to encourage each other. Sharing this space with others has created some of our fondest memories here so far as we've made this our home. It has been a journey over the last 2 years to bring it back to life from the state it was in, but we are thankful. And for the record, I'm thankful to have these pictures so I can at least look at how clean it can be. As we venture back into newborn days and life with three littles, I doubt it will look like these pictures again for a long time!

Interior: After. The upstairs: part 1.

Once you get to the top of the stairs there are 4 bedrooms, a hall bath, and the bonus room off the hallway.

(left to downstairs, right to bonus room)


(rotating artwork display)

(hall bath)


(guest room)

(the new BOY nursery! We are ready for you Everett!)



(the girls' shared room)

Interior: After. The ground floor.

Off the kitchen is the den.





The door off the den leads to the backyard. We worked with a great tree guy who took out over 30 trees.





Back inside on the other side of the den is a door that leads to the half bath & laundry room.






From the driveway, you can enter the house here too, so the laundry room doubles as a mud room. To the left of this view behind the washer and dryer is the garage. I'm not sure the garage will ever be neat enough for photographing! From the garage you can also go up a few steps and enter into the foyer.