Pacifier Police

Today Evan noticed that Hollan had lost her pacifier so he was ever so gently trying to place it back in her mouth.

Almost........and....got it!

Mission Accomplished.

Weekend Pics

Yep, another one.

The kids relaxing on the couch.

"What'd you say?"

Eyes open in her swing.

Naked snack time after swimming.
Evan is quite the parking attendant.

Weekly Pics with Grannie Annie

Hollan has been spending some good QT hanging with Annie while Evan sleeps and Mama showers and/or sleeps. Yes, some days it is one or the other.

Evan's morning outfit: pjs, super hero cape, backwards robe.

Annie hanging with the kids.
Sweet girl with her eyes OPEN!

Weekly Pics

Naked Cowboy had better watch out! Evan is coming for his job.

Evan got a "big cousin" gift from Lyla - Mr. Potato Head. He takes it very seriously, especially the shoes.
Pearly gets in on the torture.
Hollan's post-gas passing face.
More potato-ing in the morning.
Deep thinker.
Snuggling with Baba.
"Totally wasted"
Hollan missed the photo op because she was trying out her crib for the first nap...see below.
This lasted about an hour, in increments of 15 minutes. So much for Mama getting a nap, too!

Thank You!!

A HUGE thank you goes up to Minnesota to Great Grandma Frank for the beautiful afghan that she knitted for Hollan. The color matches her nursery perfectly.

We had a photo shoot to show off our gal and the blanket.

Another HUGE thank you goes out to Babee & Baba who went shopping in Old Town today and picked up some strapping cowboy boots for Evan.

Yee Haw!

First Week Pics

Brian stayed home from work for most of the week so he and Evan were coming up with new and fun ways to entertain themselves while Mama & Hollan slept or ate....

Yeah, when Mama found out about this little game, she nipped it in the bud. Next step for Evan would be jumping off the coffee table onto the couch. And then the emergency room.

Hollan napping in her chair wearing her sweet Polo sneakers...thanks, Hickey family!

I don't think we will ever take too many of these Big Brother pictures.

Evan coming in at 36"!
Babee & Baba arrived today!
Hollan received her first piece of mail today.
Smiling about her very own social security number! Baba was kind enough to point out to Hollan that by the time she needs that card, there won't be anything left for her :(

The Kids

A quick Hollan update before we get to the real bloggin'...

We took her into the pediatrician yesterday for her follow up birth appointment and to be expected, she had lost weight since leaving the hospital. Down from 6 lbs 3 oz to 5 lbs 12 oz. Although this is completely normal, any hormonal new mother with a 5 lb baby will FREAK OUT. So, we have been nursing furiously last night and today and Hollan is starting to wake up more which is helpful for the whole eating thing, you know. We go back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon and I feel pretty confident that we'll be in the clear. She is also a tad bit jaundiced so we have been "sunbathing" a bit in between meals. Already this girl has the life!

A rare moment on Sunday with her eyes open!

Big brother!

Posing with his new dog, a big brother gift from cousins Celeste, Drew, Sophie & Catherine. We have named him Harry after Harry the Dirty Dog.

Sunbathing in her skivvies.

Evan looks GIGANTIC!

Sweet big brother.

We do wear clothes around here...Evan was getting ready to go swimming. I promise.

Taa Daa!! She is opening her eyes and they are beautiful. Brian and I make some mighty fine looking kids if we do say so ourselves. And we do....often. And high five each other.

Hollan Sara Peterson

Hollan Sara Peterson was born on 8/06/10 at 3:06pm...tipping the scales at 6 lbs 3 oz and spreading the tape to 19.5 inches! Elisabeth woke up at 5am to some heartier than usual contractions that she described to me as probably "a sign that I should have my hospital bag packed." She went to the OB/GYN to see how things were progressing and they told her to march herself right on over to the hospital, she was going to have a baby soon! We arrived at the hospital at about 10:00am, hung out for few hours, then at 2:45pm the delivery nurse checked dilation and said she was phoning the doctor for delivery (who was about 15 minutes away). E started pushing when Dr. Deka got there, and about 5 minutes later, baby Hollan was here! So, from a "size of baby" and "duration of labor" perspective, suffice to say that baby #2 was a wee bit easier than #1 (8 lbs 2 oz and 21.5 inches, 23 hours of labor).

I took this picture right after we checked into our room...ahem, I mean "birthing suite"

Getting prepped...
I'm not going to lie...I was a little confused about this sign at first, and it wasn't until about 3 hours into the stay that I had a revelation. "Two feet" didn't in fact mean 24 inches (which upon further reflection, would have meant that Elisabeth was likely having Shaq's baby), but rather a baby with TWO FEET. Made me wonder how mermaids or pirates would have felt about giving birth there...well, it's just a goal, I suppose. Speaking of which, that part was awesome too...I think I want for my kid having two feet to be more than just a "goal" for the delivery nurse.

Trying to motivate Hollan to get here...this was taken at about noon.
There were a few other pictures taken around the 3:00 hour, but none suitable for this blog. Here's Hollan!! Absolutely incredible! (Also, entirely more mucous-y than I remember Evan being after doing the head-first-brand-new-baby-luge.)

By the way...high fives all around at the nursing station. I count two of 'em, lofty goal achieved!
So sleepy.
All cleaned up...they must have used "adorable soap", because holy crap, look at this kid!
Proud parents...of TWO kids now. Crazy! (Side bar, I clearly used no such soap as that which is described above.)
Mamma and baby...my girls.
Dear Hollan, I apologize that paternal genes are apparently dominant when it comes to hairline. Love Dad
I can't even explain to you how much I love these next two pictures. Evan is going to be the best big brother ever! Just to be sure though, he had us read his "Big Brother" book four times in succession yesterday.
Not sure what kind of connections Hollan had in utero, but she somehow managed to swing getting Evan a Lamborghini Diablo as a "big brother present." I will say, as the video footage confirms, enthusiasm levels related to holding his car far exceeded the levels expressed when holding his sister.
Well, they successfully (and I use that term loosely) remade the Karate Kid movie...enter the Karate Baby. The world is her dojo.
The obligatory "leaving the hospital" shot.
We are filling up this house! (Not pictured here: Pearl - whose thought bubble at the time surely read "Another one?! It took me 2 1/2 years to start liking...nay, tolerating the boy!")

Actually she has been very interested and on high alert since we brought Hollan home, letting us know "Lassie in the well" style, about every little peep Hollan makes...such a sweet girl. She is a herder by nature, so her job just got a bit tougher with #2.
Doesn't this look like one of those giant prop pacifiers?
Just beautiful. Look at those eyes!
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes...we feel so blessed to have such a happy, healthy baby girl and such incredible family and friends!