Guess Who Is...

... already 6.5 weeks! (WHAT?!?!)
... up to ~13 pounds when I weighed him yesterday. (WHAT?!?!)
... getting chunky little baby fat rolls ;) (and they're SO CUTE!)
... socializing, smiling, cooing, "talking" more and more these days.
... outgrowing some of his newborn clothes already :(
... filling out his size 1 diapers (they seemed SO BIG when he was first born!)
... getting his Mommy up every 3-4 times a night to eat. (well, he did have 2 back-to-back colds causing lots of snot, boogers, and congestion -- BUT I think we are on the up-side of things now)
... sleeping soundly in his swing right now.
... doted on and adored by his 2 big brothers.
... kissed on and hugged constantly by his Momma.
... tolerating brief snuggle time with Daddy, but knows there's no milk from him!
... not a fan of rear-facing carseats + Texas summer heat!
... trying to hold his head up like a big boy.
... staying awake for longer stretches at a time.
... our newest little boy to melt our hearts.
... a sweet little angel-boy, and precious child of God!

You guessed it.......

Our Seth Vaughan!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daniel at 22 Months

Brushing his teeth before bedtime

Playing with his tools, riding on his Harley, and wearing big-boy underwear!

My Brown-Eyed Boy!

Daniel, Sweet little Daniel. Well, he is 22 months old today, and I thought I would tell a little bit about all that he is into right now. He is a busy little guy, so hopefully I remember it all!

• He LOVES music -- singing, listening, playing with musical toys. We have needed to buy AA and AAA batteries in bulk to keep up with all of his little musical toys! his favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "The B-I-B-L-E", and "God Is So Good"
• He talks almost non-stop -- I lost count at over 200 words several months ago; he can put 2-4 words together to make sentences; he is usually very clear about what he wants, and lets everyone know.
  
• He is a great eater, and will usually try whatever I cook -- he loves almost all fruit!
  
• He knows shapes (circle, square, triangle, heart, star, cross, oval, and -agon is for pentagon, hexagon or octagon);
  
• He knows colors (red, blue, green, orange, yellow, white, purple, pink, brown);
  
• He recognizes all of the capital letters (A-Z!), and knows what sound most of them make;
  
• He can count to 5 all by himself, and to 10 with just a little help
• His favorite TV shows are Super Why, Elmo's World, and Go Diego Go
  
• He is potty training -- he started doing it by himself several months ago, but I just wasn't ready; so the past week we have been at home potty training, and so far, he is doing wonderful! He has been telling me when he needs to pee pee and we have had several days without pee accidents. We are still working on pooping in the potty, but I think he is getting close to figuring that out too!
  
• He loves to swim and will stick his head underwater and glide along the surface like a little ducky; he jumps in going fully underwater and pops right back up
• He is 100% ALL BOY!!! He just loves to be outside (never mind the 100+ degree temperatures!), getting dirty, playing with and bringing me bugs of all kinds, running, jumping, climbing, etc!
  
• He loves animals and will sit and play with barn toys, little plastic animals or read books about animals -- his favorite animal sound is the lion's ROAR!!!!!!!
  
• He really seems to like being a middle brother -- he tries to be big and do anything that Luke does, and he is gentle and loving with little Seth!
• He is super sweet and cuddly, and readily gives out hugs and kisses; and has a charming smile that he knows how to use to get what he wants!
  

Overall, he is a very happy little boy and day-by-day becoming a bigger boy! He is usually easy-going, and laid-back, ready to join in with whatever we are doing, or happy to entertain himself! He has such a sweet spirit and is such a delight to have in our family! It is hard to believe that he is already 22 months, and will soon be 2!
We are so thankful for the blessing of Daniel Cole!

Seth - 1 month

Not quite sure how it happens that life goes by SO FAST, but our little baby Seth is already 1 month old! On one hand, it has been a busy month -- lots of family and friends visiting, lots of playgroups and swimming to stay cool; BUT on the other hand, things have taken a little slower pace -- we have been home a little more, enjoying each other and enjoying our new little baby!

Seth is a wonderful baby and a welcome addition to our family. He is overall pretty laid-back and just goes with the flow of our busy house. He only gets worked up when he is really hungry, but otherwise, he is rarely fussy. He still sleeps fairly often throughout the day and 2-4 hour stretches at night. He is a great nurser, and his cheeks are proof of that! Around 3 weeks, he started having a little reflux and spitting up (mostly during the night), but that seems to be much better now and less of a problem. He had a little bit of "baby acne" on his cheeks and head, but that too is clearing up. He is not a big fan of being in his car seat -- I think primarily because he gets hot, and prefers to be taken out and held. He loves being in my hotsling, and will go right to sleep in it -- which is nice when we are out shopping!

He is absolutely adored by his big brothers and he sure seems to love them right back!! He is yet another sign of our Father's mercy, grace, and love, and we are so thankful for his sweet spirit in our family! What a joy and a blessing!!! Here's a few pics...

Sweet prayers in his sleep

Wide-eyed boy!

No more pictures, Mom!

Just chillin'

A little grumpy

Happy little man!

Bath time -- all of the boys LOVE the water!

Definitely Brothers!!!!

Well, they may not all look IDENTICAL, but you can definitely tell that they are brothers! Here's a picture of Seth, Daniel and Luke all around 3-4 weeks old! It will be fun to see how they each change into their own person -- looks and personalities -- as they continue to grow! What a blessing they are!!!

Seth Vaughan

Such a sweet little guy who still sleeps alot (during the day anyways), nurses like a champ, and is growing like a weed (~10 pounds when I weighed him on our home scale today!)

Daniel Cole

Luke Bennett

My 3 Boys at a Glance

Luke Bennett --
He is my 3 yr and 3 month Big Boy! He is such a big helper to me, and has done so well adjusting to having a little baby brother. He loves to hold Seth and is always asking about him. He plays well with Daniel and by himself, and especially likes to build with Legos, read books, play with race cars, color/paint, and swim. He has a big heart and is quick to give hugs and kisses!

Daniel Cole --
He is my 21 month old getting Bigger Boy! He has become so much more independent in the last few months, and definitely has an opinion on things! He has the occasional pre-2-yr-old temper tantrum, but they are usually short-lived and then he is happily on the the next thing! He loves to read books -- especially about animals -- play with cars, chase after his big brother, and swim. He is doing pretty good with little Seth -- he usually just ignores him, but is still trying to figure out what all is going on and why he isn't the "baby" any more! He is also quick to give hugs and kisses, and overall a laid-back boy.


Seth Vaughan --
He is now 2 weeks old, and doing great! He weighed 8 lb, 3 oz today at his check-up, and his bilirubin levels are continuing to go down (what an answer to prayers, since both big brothers had problems with high bilirubin levels for several months!) He is very calm and laid-back and just goes with the flow of our household (sometimes pretty loud and busy!) He is only ever fussy when he is hungry. He is a great nurser and is sleeping 3-4 hours stretches at night (a wonderful treat to Mommy!) He has joined our family and now it seems like he has always been here! We are in love with him and so thankful for this little blessing!



All-in-all everything is going really well, and we are all adjusting to life with a newborn baby. I am trying to take time everyday to savor these precious moments and I am constantly in prayer throughout my days -- prayers of gratitude and thankfulness, prayers for patience and endurance, prayers for God's plan and will for each of my 3 boys and our family!

Seth's Arrival -- Recap

So here's the story of little Seth Vaughan's arrival:

A bit of a backtrack first -- so I had been for my 36 week and 37 week OB appointments and was told that I was already dilated to 3.5 and 4.5 respectively and that things were "looking ready to go". So having that in mind, the end of June and beginning of July, I was really thinking that ANY DAY/ANY MINUTE, Seth would come. Of course, we were wanting him to stay in long enough to be fully developed and not have any breathing problems, etc, so we were just waiting it out -- plus Robert was working until July 1st, so we really wanted him to stay in until then.

So starting the night of the 1st, I started walking around the neighborhood -- anywhere from 1-3 miles at a time 1-3 times a day to see if it would get anything going. I was SO ready to meet Seth, and a little tired of being big and hot and pregnant! But the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th all came and went and no signs of Seth coming. Incidentally, we had both my family and Robert's family down to visit during those days, and to be ready just in case he came, but we are pretty sure that was jinxing us!

So Monday we sent everyone home, and enjoyed a quiet evening catching up on some DVR shows. I decided I had had enough walking and ended up going to bed early that night.

Tuesday, July 6th: (I was 38 2/7 weeks pregnant)

3:30 am -- I woke up to pee (nothing unusual, since I have needed to pee during the night since I first found out I was pregnant!) Noticed that I was having some uncomfortable contractions, but nothing too weird.

3:45 am -- Tried to get back to sleep, but noticed that I was having more of those uncomfortable contractions -- about every 5 minutes

4:15 am -- Woke Robert up because the contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes for the past ~45 minutes; called family to let them know things were happening

4:40 am -- Called my dear friend Dee and asked her to come down to be with the boys until our family could get here, since I was pretty sure "this was it" and me and Robert headed up to the hospital

5:00 am -- Got checked into the hospital L&D triage and waited to be seen by a doc to make sure I was really in labor; I was dilated to a 6 at that point and the contractions were coming every couple of minutes. I told anyone who would listen to page my OB since I tend to progress FAST and to page anesthesia with an epidural ready ASAP!

5:30 am -- Dr. Sparkman (anesthesia) arrived and started my epidural -- he is my hero! He worked as fast as he could to get me as comfortable as possible over the next 1.5 hours.

6:15 am -- OB doc on call checked me again and I was dilated to 10, head practically crowning, ready to go.

6:45 am -- My OB arrived (thank goodness!!!!) and he quickly pulled on his gown, mask, moon boots, gloves, etc and got ready to catch little Seth!

6:52 am -- After 2 pushes, Seth Vaughan came out into the world wide-eyed and alert! He weighed 6 lb, 11 oz and was 18.5 inches long.

We stayed in the hospital all day Tuesday and Luke and Daniel got to come up to meet their new baby brother in the afternoon. Then, Wednesday after a few standard tests and procedures, we were released home.

We have had a busy and wonderful week since then. We are adjusting to a family of 5, and the big boys are getting used to having a baby around. Luke just adores Seth and wants to hold and kiss him constantly. Daniel mostly ignores him, but will stop playing occasionally to give him a kiss too. Both boys are doing great with him, and Seth is a beautiful little addition to our family! I am truly amazed at how my heart just multiplies and my love just abounds with each child! It is a wonderful blessing and miracle that God gives to parents! I am richly blessed beyond measure and thank God daily for the calling He has given me to be a Mommy!

Yes, I have my hands full -- but so is my heart, FULL OF LOVE!!!!!

Family of 5

Introducing our newest bundle of joy!

Seth Vaughan Anderson came into the world Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 6:52 am. He weighed in at 6 lb. 11 oz. and 18.5 inches long (the biggest of our 3 boys!)

Just moments after being born! He was wide-eyed and awake!

Getting all cleaned up with the nurse.

Little Seth looks alot like his big brothers -- definitely a little Anderson boy!

Getting to hold that sweet little baby!

Daddy's turn to love on him!

My OB was there for the delivery!!! (A first for me!) So thankful that he made it!

The big brothers getting to see him for the first time... we are all just smitten by our little man!

An attempt at a family picture... not sure if we will manage to get one of everyone looking... and smiling ;)

Pops and the 3 Anderson boys!

Getting ready to leave the hospital and come home! Seth is wearing the same little outfit that Luke and Daniel wore home from the hospital.

We are just enjoying loving on our sweet little Seth and adjusting to having a teeny tiny little guy in the house. It has been such a wonderful week, and we feel truly blessed to now be a family of 5!