Weeda Visit

We were lucky again this weekend as we had more fun visitors come to town. My Uncle Pat and Aunt Brenda, along with Pat's parents, Donald & Helen, had made the trip from Iowa to Charlotte to visit my cousin, BreAnn. On Saturday they all drove to Wilmington for 2 nights. It was so great to get to visit with them & they of course showered the boys with attention. Filson really will go into shock when he's suddenly stuck at home with just Mom & Ian one of these days!

On Sunday they spent the entire day watching Filson & Ian so that John and I could work on projects around the house, which we appreciate more than they will ever know! John was able to get over halfway through a huge project, installing 19 replacement windows in our house. We really enjoyed the visit and appreciate them making the long drive out to Wilmington!

Ian seems to be more alert and changing every day. He's sleeping for at least 3.5-4hr stretches at night between feedings and so far has been going back to sleep easily. We've been out and about as much as possible & I'm slowly getting used to juggling getting he & Filson out of the car & into the sling and shopping cart before we all suffocate on these humid 90 degree days.

We had a lot of wildlife in our yard over the weekend. A racoon, fawn, turtle & frogs are a few of the things we have seen in the past few days. The last picture is of Filson getting close to the little turtle before it headed back into the woods. He is all about the outdoors & spent a couple hours out there with his dad yesterday morning touching the frogs & picking up all kinds of creatures.

Fun Visitors

We have had a fun week at the Gaddum house. Monday night Patrick, Anna Leigh & Vada came from Raleigh to spend the night. We had so much fun with them & especially enjoyed all the extra help with entertaining Filson & the incredible dinner they fixed for us. It's hard to believe, but Vada Rose will turn 1 on Tuesday! She is a sweetheart & is up on her feet and seems ready to take off walking any day now.

On Tuesday we were very happy to have John's Mom come back for another visit! We again appreciated all the help with the boys & the delicious meals. Filson has a lot of fun playing with his "Meme" and loves all the extra attention. He discovered her hair curlers & here he is testing them out in his hair. However, I think he found that using them as a tunnel for his matchbox cars was much more fun than wearing them!

Ian's cord fell out Tuesday night, so while Mimi bathed Filson last night, John & I gave Ian his first bath. After he was all clean & sweet smelling, he of course chose the next diaper change to pee all over Mom & himself! I had forgotten how much little boys love to do that if left uncovered for too long!

Everything is still going really well here and we are adjusting to life with our 2 boys. Ian makes this newborn stuff seem really easy as we are finding it is the 'almost-2-year-old' that wears us out each day!!

Weekend

I think John enjoyed his Father's Day. He spent the first half of it on the boat fishing & then he & Filson built a track to race their matchbox cars in the afternoon. We have been laughing at how Filson seems like such a giant now compared to Ian. I snapped a few shots of them since they were in matching diapers yesterday. Hard to believe Filson used to fit in the newborn size too. I'm sure someday they will not be happy to know that I made them pose in their diapers!

The Boys

Ian is doing great and Big Brother LOVES to hold "bay-bay", Filson's name for the little bro. We really enjoyed having Mimi here this week & are excited that she is coming back again for a couple of nights next week. She has been a huge help and Filson has of course enjoyed the extra attention & playmate!! Last night we made our first family outing to Hamburger Joe's to see friends & listen to live music. Today the boys & I went to Target, our first outing with just the 3 of us & they did great. Ian rode in my sling for the first time & Filson cruised along in the cart. It was actually much less stressful than I remember it being taking Filson out alone for the first time : ) Not sure what the weekend has in store for us. It is HOT & they are warning of extreme heat for the next 2 days....doesn't sound good for any outdoor activities! Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Family Fun

Here are a few pics from the past couple of days. We had all the cousins come to visit Saturday & Sunday, which was WONDERFUL!!! The sister-in-laws helped Mama & the cousins entertained Filson. They even made a trip to Wrightsville Beach Sunday morning to play in the sand & waves. We really appreciate them all making the trip to Wilmington!

Ian had his first Dr. visit this morning, and she said he is perfect (although this wasn't news to us ; ) He's still eating great and prefers sleeping over any other activity right now. His big brother could stand to catch up on a lot of sleep. He was practically mid-sentence at the lunch table today when all of a sudden, his head leaned on the side of his seat and he was out. It didn't look very comfortable, but at least he was getting some much needed rest!

Baby Ian

Ian Steve Gaddum

7 lbs 14 oz

19 1/2 in

June 11, 2009

6:42am

We are so excited to announce Baby Ian's arrival! We left the hospital around 10am this morning and are so happy to be home with our newest family member. I awoke at 3am Thursday morning to light contractions and decided to get out of bed at 4:30am to shower. At 5am, I told John that if he wanted, he should probably go ahead & shower as we may need to leave soon. We checked into the hospital at 6:10am & Ian was in my arms by 6:42am! I guess you could say he came pretty quickly! He's doing great & eating very well & Filson is pretty fascinated by his Little Brother!

I will soon post pictures we took at the hospital that I need to get off of John's computer. You can also check out more pictures at the hospital site: http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=ed98329c-e5aa-402a-a20e-ccb89f2b576d&babyid=4d183875-0481-47f8-8377-ddc41a65eef4

One More Week

The countdown is on, as I am just one week away from my due date. I don't think my clothes have any more "stretch" to them, so this baby needs to make it's arrival soon! I still feel great & at my midwife appt this morning everything is as healthy as can be. Filson is going to miss the weekly appointments, the girls there always shower him with attention and stickers & he gets to help measure my belly & use the machine to listen to Peanut's heartbeat, which he finds very exciting. Today he also laid on the exam table & my midwife measured his tummy & listened for a heartbeat in his belly. He still loves to kiss & talk to my belly, which he is doing in one of the pictures.

This morning, we met a few other friends from playgroup at one of their neighborhood pools. They had a separate fenced in baby pool which we had all to ourselves & it was the perfect size for our crew. Filson had a great time playing in the pool with all the ladies.

Fit for Fun

On Wednesday we spent the morning at Fit for Fun and Filson had a great time. We had not been in quite a while, and he was really interested in the art room & the room with the train table & trucks this time, as opposed to just wanting to play in the open toy area. We also spent some time at their outdoor playground and they have a children's golf game that he did not want to leave. He occasionally wanted to swing the club like a baseball bat, which made me incredibly nervous with all the other kids around, so I cut his golf game a little short!

Yesterday morning I came into his room & found he had climbed up & pulled himself onto the crib and was just standing peering down into it. It was so cute and I just have to wonder what was going through his mind. For awhile now, when asked where Peanut will be sleeping, he has pointed to his old crib. Earlier this week I put the sheet on & put all the baby's new things in it. We are anxious to see what our Little Munchkin thinks once there really is a baby lying inside!