The First Two Weeks

Ah, the first two weeks after a baby.  Normally, they're the hardest days of my life.  This time, however, it was blissful.  Seriously.  Why, you ask?  Because Cubby was at home for the two weeks!  TWO WHOLE WEEKS and NO WORK.  Yes, I was still tired, but it was doable because I was able to rest and recover and not have to worry about real life (which, unfortunately, doesn't stop just because you have a baby!).

Every seven years at Cubby's work, the employees are eligible for a sabbatical.  They're then not allowed to work for two weeks, but paid not to do so.  Pretty sweet, huh?  This year marks seven years for Cubby at his company and so "we" thought it would be a great idea for him to take his sabbatical after Britta was born.  So, while I recovered, Cubby played Mr. Mom and had a grand-ol' time doing so.  Honestly, I thought that by the end of the two weeks Cubby would be sooo ready to head back to work (especially since Kari and Juliana gave him a run for his money), but not so!  Cubby told me that he had always thought that if he'd won the lottery he'd still want to work part time.  But, after being at home with me and the kids, he said he loved it and would love to stay home if he could.  (And we wish he could too!!)

Here are a couple of highlights from the first two weeks:

Sweet baby...

Henry meets Britta

Ben meets Britta

Sleepy time

 What better way to spend a rainy afternoon after school?  Legos!  Cubby and the big kids must've spent 3 hrs one afternoon (and maybe another 3 hrs another) building with legos :-).

A rare awake moment for Britta!  She slept a LOT the first two weeks--yay!

 The weather was beautiful and so we got outside quite a bit!  (It makes life sooo much better when everyone can get outside!)

Ju Ju helped  Daddy mow the lawn :-).

This two-yr old is so cute...but soooo strong-willed.  See that face?  Yup.  That's our girl!

 Of course, there was lots' of sibling snuggle time!

The kids and their schedules kept Cubby pretty busy.  Cubby got to meet the big kids after school and walk them home (Christian loved it...Emily, not so much).  He took Kari to preschool and even got to attend "Dads and Donuts" with her.  He took Christian and Kari down to Lincoln for one of Christian's soccer tournaments and must've taken Kari to Target almost every afternoon!

It was the most enjoyable postpartum (and maybe most enjoyable two weeks) time I've had in a long time!  I loved having Cubby home and having that bonding time together as a couple and family.

Meeting More Family and Heading Home

Auntie Erin and Miss Britta

 While in the hospital, we had some visitors!  Here are just a few of the family members that  came to meet our Miss Britta.  (My Grandma came too, but those pictures are on her camera.  She came up after delivery and I was so tired I didn't think to take any pictures of my own!)

Grandpa Harvey

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Harvey

Headed home!

Uncle Kyle and Britta at home.

I'm slowly getting caught up....stay tuned!

Boosterthon Fun Run

 The day before my induction was the big kids' boosterthon fun run.  (This was their school's fundraiser in lieu of asking people to order stuff from a catalog.)  The kids got pledges from neighbors and family members who pledged a certain amount of money for each lap the children would run in a set amount of time (the maximum amount of laps they could do was 35).  Emily and Christian were very excited!

The cheering section :-)

It was a HOT day and what was supposed to be a morning run, got changed to an afternoon run at the last minute.  I really wanted to be up there to support both kids (who were running at two different times) so it took a little bit of juggling on my part due to having to take Juliana back home for a nap half-way through Emily's run.  (Our sweet neighbor, Marcia, came over to sit while she slept so that I could go back up and cheer Christian on.)  It all worked out, but between walking up the big hill up to the school and the heat, I was TIRED that night.  Alas, it didn't put me into labor, but I did get a couple of contractions out of it!

 Back to the running though...the organizers of this type of fundraiser kept it lively and fun for the kids with music and special kinds of laps (see conga-line lap above.  Emily is in it.)

 In the time allotted for the 4-6 graders, Emily completed 30 of the 35 laps!  Then, it was Christian's turn (K-3 grade)!

 Christian is a great runner!  (All of that running for soccer really came in handy as he not only completed all 35 laps, he was the fastest 2nd grader and finished 2nd or 3rd overall!)  Yea, I was impressed!  Of course, if it's a competition, you can bet that Christian will go all out to win.

A post-race picture with Kari :-)

Overall, the school met their goal for funds, and the kids really felt a sense of accomplishment having worked hard to earn the money all while having a lot of fun and getting in some good exercise!

Great job, Emily and Christian!

Field Trip

A couple of days before my due date, Kari's preschool class was taking their field trip.  (Luckily, I never go into labor so I was able to go ;).)

We went to Fontenelle Forest and explored their outdoor areas and then learned about various woodland creatures.  Major preschool cuteness, for sure.

 Of the turtle, snake, and rabbit, can you guess which one Kari wanted to touch?  Yes, the rabbit.  Can you blame her?  It was so fuzzy, I kinda' wanted to pet it myself, but I'm afraid they didn't necessarily want grown-ups joining in on the fun :-).

I was so thankful that little Britta held off on coming so I could spend this morning with this fun little girl!  Sure do love my Kari-belle!