The Welling Boys

Our little Valentine's Day.

2011-03-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Glenn and I don't go out for Valentine's Day anymore. Weve decided it is much more fun as a family holiday. Instead, I go all out and we have a fabulous dinner as a family. That is why our boys have tasted filet mignon and creme brulee. Never to early to start teaching them about the good stuff right?

They really liked the creme brulee.

Fun Learning

2011-03-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Each of my boys got foam dart guns in their stockings. It is too funny to hear Nicholas say "bull- its."

"C" is for caterpillar. We have a letter of the week each week so Nicholas can learn his letters.

Robert gets in on the fun too with crafts and worksheets.

"B" is for bear gummy bear graph.

Robert had quite an accident in January. His forehead hit a chair just right and it split open. He had to have 8 internal and 12 external stitches. All I can say is "NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED."

We can't pass up an opportunity to make something fun out of a good box.

We have letter pancakes each week and the boys love them.

Cool dude.

Robert got a science kit for Christmas and has had fun doing the experiments with his daddy.

Lookin for bugs. Of course it would be hard to find one when you actually want one.

Setting a leaf on fire with a magnifying glass.

Nicholas doesn't quite understand baseball yet.

We made Mary Ann from "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel" out of cardboard and now Robert thinks we should be able to make everything out of cardboard.

Super Nicholas

Robert's helicopter artwork.

Christmas at Our House

2011-01-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year at the Welling house. The boys were both old enough to enjoy the festivities and Robert was really able to participate in the baking and crafts. Nicholas didn't understand what was going on, but he understood that it was fun and made it his mission to daily strip the Christmas tree of all the ornaments within his reach.
There is always a lot of baking going on at our house, but it goes into overdrive for the holidays. I loved that this year, Robert was actually enthusiastic about helping bake and not just helping eat.

Robert made cupcake ornaments to give out on Christmas Eve.

Homemade jelly doughnuts Daddy's first day off.

Peanut looked so cute in big brother's winter hat.

Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning at home.

Nicholas got an African music cd. He LOVES music and will drop whatever he is doing to dance. he really got into at the zoo when we visited the new African Forest, so we thought he needed this cd. I think he is going to be my musical one. He started singing months ago and has an uncanny ability to repeat melodies he hears. It melts my heart to hear him sing.

Super hero capes from Mommy.

Robert's big gift: a big crane truck. He was in heaven.

Second Christmas at Gigi and Grandaddy's house.

Fourth Christmas at Mimi and Boopa's house.

Nicholas really is the biggest ham imaginable.

Our advent calendar that I made a few years ago. This year, we had devotions for each day and I made dough ornaments to correspond to those.

Fun on the trampoline they got from Gigi and Grandaddy.

2010-12-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

Robert and Nicholas celebrated Halloween this year as a giraffe and an elephant. We hit the fall festivals at both our church and Gigi's and Grandaddy's church and also went on a safari over to Kingwood to see Mimi and Boopa.
Nicholas had a lot of fun in the bounce house at Gigi's church. When he got out though, he forgot that the whole world is not bouncy and fell straight backwards on the concrete. (on purpose) What am I going to do with that boy?!?

August/ September 2010

2010-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

These months were filled with a lot of fun for the Welling boys. Robert did a lot of painting, and he especially liked to paint by rolling his hot wheels through paint. Robert also really mastered writing his name during this time. He is so proud of himself when he writes it. I get to be amused by Robert-isms all day. He became fascinated by dung beetles in August and asked me one day, "Mommy, do you like butterflies more than dung beetles." It's ironic that I, who hate bugs more than just about anything, has a son who loves them.
Nicholas started walking during this time. He was a little older than Robert when he started walking, but he caught up fast and is really a daredevil. He was climbing well before he was walking. I find him on the stairs, on top of low tables, standing on chairs, etc. I also think that in that time he wasn't walking, he was focused on talking. I had to stop trying to keep track of what words he could say because he says just about any word he hears. He's talkig more than Robert did at this age, probably because he has such a verbose older brother. Since Robert is quite a talker with an impressive vocabulary, I'm afraid we may really have our hands full with Nicholas if he talks even more.
Fun in the backyard.

Little charmer.

Three and One.

2010-08-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

We had some pictures taken for Robert's third birthday and Nicholas' first. It's time again for me to catch up on what the boys are doing lately.

This guy is really a little man now. I can see the light at the end of the terrible twos tunnel. We still have our tantrums and sharing with baby brother issues, but all in all he is acting a lot more grown up. Over the last few months, he has been working on reading simple words, he can write his name (messy of course, but recognizable) and he has become a puzzle wiz. He has been taking swimming lessons and is getting a lot more confident in the water. Robert really is so much fun. I love hearing the imaginative and funny things he says and seeing the creative ways he plays with his toys. It melts my heart when he says "I love hanging out with you."

Little brother is really keeping me on my toes. His mission in life is to climb on everything. He has taken a few steps, but he is more interested in climbing on top of tables, stairs, chairs, and pretty much anything else he can. He is also doing a lot of talking. He says "ball", "hi," "bye", "fish," "kitty," "uh oh," and a lot of other words regularly. He also does a lot of mimicing of sounds we make or words we say. He will sing "la la la" in the car when a certain song comes on his Kindermusik cd. The other day I said "juice" when I handed him his cup and he said "juice" perfectly clearly. He also copies me when I sneeze, cough, or hiccup. It is really funny. Nicholas is a real little ham just like his big brother.

It is fun to watch the boys start to be able to play together. They like to wrestle and horse around. I look forward to seeing all the fun they will have as brothers.

slowing down

2010-07-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

After the craziness of two overly ambitious birthday parties, we had a much more relaxing week. I took time to do some projects I have been wanting to do with Robert. We collected rocks and Robert sorted them by size. Unfortunately, we didn't have much variation of rocks in our yard, so it got a little tricky deciding between small and medium.

We also went outside during Nicholas' nap and layed on a blanket and looked up at clouds. We were supposed to be looking for shapes in the clouds. The fact that the clouds were rather blob- like combined with Robert being a little young for this, it being a million degrees outside and the sun hurting our eyes led us to focus on the beauty of God's creation rather than what the clouds reminded us of. (although I did try to force a sheep and Robert humored me.)

While Robert went to GiGi's bible school one night, Glenn and I took the time to play with just little brother. We discovered that he can say "choo choo" (well "duu duu") and have a thoroughly good time playing with the train set when his big brother is not around. Nicholas always has time to do whatever he wants to do, which lately includes climbing on everything in sight, stairs, slides, tractors, tables, etc and getting from a seated to standing position without holding on to anything (and being totally pleased with himself as a result.)

I took the time to try my hand at making popovers. I must say when these things come out of the oven, they are well worth the minimal effort they require.

I took the time to notice how cute this little guy's bottom is when he is climbing the stairs instead of just being flustered that he is on the stairs...again.

Robert and I took the time to try cutting his hair at home. It will take some practice, but at least he doesn't look totally ridiculous.

At this end of this more restful week, Glenn and I took the time for a date night. We ate at Reef (I highly recommend it) and went to the Houston Symphony. Much needed adult time. Thanks GiGi and Aunt Laura.

Peanut's First Birthday!

2010-07-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

How can it be possible that my sweet Nicholas Beck is one year old today? He had changed so much over the last few weeks. He is definitely keeping me on my toes because he loves to climb. He makes a dash for the stairs every time I put him down. His new favorite things to climb on are Robert's power wheels tractor and our kids table. I was in the kitchen checking on dinner one night and when I got back to the playroom, I found him on top of the table. It's amazing how fast he can climb on top of things and how fearless he is. Nicholas is talking a lot right now. His first and favorite word is ball, but he is also saying dada, mama, hi, bye, and quack quack for duck. It is so cute to see him pick up a toy phone and say hi. He also loves to pick up toy planes, cars, trains, etc and make a vroom sound.
We celebrated the little guy's big day with a circus party. We had lots of family, friends, food, and fun.

Need I add...lots and lots of cake.

pure delight...

Nicholas really went after his cake with abandon. He had his own smash cake and he really ate all of it that didn't end up on the floor. I am pretty strict about my kids' sugar consumption, but on birthdays, all bets are off.

the pinata was filled with circus peanut candy.

After the party, Nicholas explored the aftermath.

checking out the new toys

We had a mini party after nap time because in all the party craziness, we forgot to give Nicholas his present from us.

a wheely mouse

this is going to be fun

Robert was inspired to go outside and ride his tricycle.

All tuckered out.

11 months

2010-06-12T06:35:00.000-07:00

Nicholas has changed a lot since I last updated this. He has been pulling up, cruising, and waving for a few months now. In he last few weeks, he has started climbing the stairs and even made it to the top of Robert's slide. Life has become a lot more chaotic around here as a result. He is developing quite a sense of humor. He loves to make this funny mad face and snort over and over. We don't know how he came up with that, but it's really funny. He also likes to do a fake cough to get our attention. When we are out, he is quite the flirt. He has to make eye contact with everyone he sees and flash them a huge grin. He's talking a lot more. He says "dada" and "mama" now and knows who he's talking about, and he says "ba" when we play with a ball. He
enjoys dancing to music and has a ball in his Kindermusik class. He is such a sweet little guy and we are so blessed to have this almost one year old in our family.

John Deere Party

2010-05-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

For months,Robert had been telling EVERYONE that hewas having a John Deere birthday party. Well,the day finally came and it lived up to expectations. We had lots of kids and lots of fun.

The kids planted their own radish plant to take home.

How many kids get to have horse rides at their party? Thanks Aunt Laura for giving rides on Duke to all the kids that wanted to.

We had stations set up where the kids collected different farm products to take to the "farmer's market."

Wool:

milk:

eggs:

carrots:

Selling their goods:

Robert and baby Opal.

5.21.2010

2010-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

We took Robert out for pizza on his birthday. It was a nice break from crazy party preparations.

Three!

2010-05-21T07:04:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my sweet Robert is three today! I asked Robert where he would like to go for a birthday breakfast and he said Starbucks. So we just got back from having milk, coffee, and muffins at Starbucks. We are in the midst of serious party preparations and Robert tells everyone we see that he is having a John Deere party.
After all we went through before Robert was born, it is such a blessing that he is so healthy and smart. He's still in the 90th percentile for height, like he has been his whole life. He has an incredible imagination and a phenomenal memory. It is so fun to watch him grow and learn. He's slowing adjusting to being a big brother. I have seen glimpses of the great brother he will be once he gets past the terrible twos.

Then:

The day you were born

2 weeks old

And Now:

LIttle Blue eyes

2010-05-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I was looking back at the blog from when Robert was really little and it made me realize that I need to do a better job of keeping up with Nicholas. Otherwise, I won't have it to look back on for him. Little brother has been crawling in earnest for about a month now. This has made life more complicated around here because we are constantly having turf wars. Robert is saying all the time "Nicholas, this is not your area, it's my area." Nicholas wants to do everything Robert is doing, so he gets knocked over by his big brother a lot. Hopefully, this will turn out to be character building. It sure doesn't seem to discourage him from going after Robert's toys.
Nicholas has his two bottom teeth and is working on his two top ones. I have a terrible bruise on my arm from being used as a teething toy. You have to watch out for this little guy, because he'll crawl up to you and bite your leg, foot, stomach, or anything else he can get at.
Nicholas is starting to try and pull up on things. He can pull up on things that are lower to the ground. He loves to feed himself and will only let us feed him if he has finger food that he can be eating at the same time. He has discovered his voice and can be very vocal if we don't give him puffs when he wants them. He can be demanding about food, but all in all he is such a sweet natured, easy baby. He is really a joy and his smile can melt your heart. He loves to look up at you and just grin from ear to ear. It is really fun to see how much he looks up to his big brother I can tell they are going to have a lot of fun together once Robert adjust to Nicholas being mobile.

Daytrip

2010-05-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Galveston a few weeks ago. This was Nichlolas' first time to actually play at the beach. These pictures really remind me of Robert's first beach experience. I was a little less concerned about Robert eating the sand in Charleston than I was about Nicholas eating it in Galveston.

Bluebonnets

2010-04-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

Easter

2010-04-08T05:43:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Bunny

Big brother wouldn't leave his ears on for any length of time.

Making the Easter eggs in this month's Martha Stewart.

Robert didn't particularly like the waiting part.

Easter baskets. Nicholas has never had chocolate so he thinks puffs and teething biscuits are great treats.

All dressed up for church.

Teething and more

2010-04-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Nicholas finally got his first tooth last week and now he's working on his second. He really doesn't act cranky or anything. He was waking up in the middle of the night wanting his pacifier, but we were able to break him of this habit pretty easily. Aside from the fact that he wants to chew everything all the time, you wouldn't know he is teething. The other day however, I gave him a stale piece of baguette. You would have thought this was the most wonderful food he ever ate. When we took it a way, he threw his first mini fit. And so it begins...

Strawberry picking.

Making use of the strawberries. Strawberry brioche French toast.

Renovation Staycation

2010-03-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Glenn redid our very boring backsplash. Now we have a beautiful subway tile and glass tile backsplash that Glenn did all by himself. He did a great job. The reason for all this was that Glenn had 5 days of vacation that he had to use or lose by the end of March. We seriously contemplated going to Disneyworld but about that time Robert entered an especially difficult stage and we decided a Disneyworld trip had great potential for disaster. We decided it would be "fun" to stay home and do house projects along with fun things with the boys. I think we were able to strike a good balance between work and play. My jobs were to keep the kids out of the kitchen and to paint the entryway. Not so much fun since it is two stories.

We also reclaimed Robert's sandbox that Glenn built in the backyard as an herb garden. Thanks to the Mollenkopfs for an almost new sandbox for the boys. This one is better because it has a cover and is in a spot where I can see Robert playing.

Another project was addding a big boy swing to our swingset so now Nicholas has the baby swing all to himself...

and I no longer have to try and lift Robert into that little one.

Nicholas is growing and changing. He learned to pick up puffs and feed them to himself during our renovation week, which was really helpful to me. He is not quite crawling (which caused me some dismay when I looked back and saw that Robert was crawling and pulling up at 8 months) but he gets all around through other means and I think it is just because I didn't force him to spend time on his tummy much. He does have quite a bit of weight to move around so I think he just needs a little more strength. One area where he seems to be moving a little faster than Robert is babbling. He says dada and lots of other syllables. We could really be in for it if he is even more of a talker than Robert, because currently I can't get Robert to stop talking. If he hears a word once, it is in his vocabulary for good and he can use it in context. One night, we were trying to get him to take a bite of his dinner and he looked at it and said "Hmmm.. Appetizing." Still don't know where he heard that and that happens all the time with new words.

We had a picnic by the pond at Hooks airport. We had such a beautiful day and a fun time to thank God for.

Since my kitchen was torn up, we ate out several times during the week. One night we took the boys to the Cheesecake Factory because it is pretty toddler friendly. After eating way too much food and brownie sundae cheesecake, we rode the trolley and then browsed through Barnes and Noble and bought a wonderful Richard Scarry book that I remember vividly from when I was little.

Nicholas

2010-03-08T05:51:00.001-08:00

Since this blog is essentially the boys' baby book and how I look back and remember things, I thought I needed to do a quick Nicholas update because he has really been changing a lot lately. He will be 8 months old this week. He is on the verge of crawling. He crawls backwards, he slithers on his tummy, and he scoots around on his bottom when he wants to get somewhere. He is very verbal right now. He babbles at us and has discovered how to make a razzing sound-which he loves. The other day we were eating breakfast and Nicholas had just taken a bite of oatmeal when he made his new favorite sound. This caused the oatmeal to shoot onto Robert, who though it was hilarious. This is probably just the first of many food fights. Nicholas adores his big brother and always wants to see what he's doing. I can tell he can't wait to be running around with him. He is really enjoying his Kindermusik class. I thought he might be a little young when we started in January, but he really gets into the music and dances and laughs. It is nice for us to have some special time with just the two of us. My little one is still such a sweet tempered, easy going little guy. He will lay in my arms after I feed him and just stare up at me and touch my face. These are really special moments that I know won't last for long.

My funny Valentines.

2010-02-14T19:52:00.001-08:00

I must admit that after years of despising Valentine's day as a cheesy romantic holiday, (one which I invariably spent babysitting) I have embraced it as a sweet and fun time with my boys.

These are the valentines Robert and I made for him and Nicholas to give out to their friends.

Hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows.

Nicholas has been enjoying drums at his Kindermusik class so he got one for Valentine's Day.

Blueberry blintzes for breakfast.

Just oatmeal and apples for Nicholas but his rosy cheeks matched the red decor so well, I couldn't resist a picture.

We had Mimi staying at our house this Valentine's Day, so we had a special lunch. Proscuitto roasted fish with butternut squash, carrots, potatoes, and parsnips. Yummy.

Nicholas had beets for lunch, but the super-pink color was in keeping with the day.

I love my boys!

Valentine's Party

2010-02-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

We had a super fun Valentine's party at our house yesterday. We had quite a turnout-22 kids! It was crazy, but a lot of fun. We had a Valentine exchange and lots of yummy food including heart shaped pizza for the kids.

Each little one had a Valentine mailbag with their name on it.

Nicholas with his Valentine's present from Gigi.

2010-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Another month has flown by and the boys keep growing like weeds. Nicholas is sitting up really well and moves around the floor somehow. I'm not sure how he does it, but I look away and then he's in a totally different spot than before. He's babbling and making a lot of funny faces while trying to imitate our sounds. He absolutely adores his big brother and I can tell he can't wait to be running around with him.
Robert provides us with joy, frustration, love, and a lot of laughs every day. It is so fun to watch him as he plays and learns. I saw him on the video monitor today at after his nap. He was moving his feet really fast on the bed. When I went up to get him I asked him why he didn't call me when he woke up, he said that he was just racing and that the stripes on his sheets were the road and one of his feet was Lightning McQueen and one was Chick.
The other day we were in the car and he said he wanted a new nose because his was running.

This is the story of our life right now. Robert's kidney issues have gotten better since we started pushing liquids. He always has several drinks around and I am always nagging him to drink.

Yesterday, we painted with potato stamps. Robert is really only into art projects if he can get his cars involved in the mess.

Robert is in the very early stages of reading. If I can get him to sit still for more than 30 seconds, he can sound out simple words in his BOB books.

Not so sure about peas.

Family

2010-01-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

We just had family photos done for Nicholas' 6 months pictures. Becky did a wonderful job. We can't wait to use her more in the future.
http://www.rebeccatoddphotography.blogspot.com/

Made you smile

2010-01-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

Just a little bit of adorableness. Nicholas gives us a steady supply. He really is about the sweetest natured baby imaginable. It really is helpful of him to be so easy because Robert is so very two right now. Seriously, I took Nicholas to his 6 month appointment and he barely even cried when he got his shots.

I love the big guy more than I can say though, tantrums and all. With his big bold personality come a lot of laughs, a lot of creativity, and a vivid imagination.

This was very first after Christmas pine box derby at the Wellings.

We got a little too into it. Next year, Robert will be old enough to do his own, but this year I thought it would be too fun for his car to be Lightning McQueen. Robert is obsessed with Cars. He did paint him red though.

Everyone was the "winner" in this race, but Nicholas actually had the fastest car. This was pretty funny since Robert's was shaped like a race car and Glenn's like a Boxster. Nicholas' was a peanut since we call him little peanut.

2010-01-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

We had a busy but wonderful Christmas this year. I was so excited to see Robert open his presents this year. We had five Christmases that day, but it all started with Christmas morning at our house.
Here are the boys clowning around in mom and dad's room.

This is exactly what Robert did on his first Christmas.

I was quite proud of myself that I had already ordered Robert this spaceship before we took him to see Santa. Robert told Santa that he wanted a spaceship. His wishes were confirmed at the Christmas Eve service at my parents church when the pastor went around asking kids what they hoped to get for Christmas. Robert said " I want a spaceship." I couldn't wait to give it to him since I knew it was exactly what he wanted.

December 2009

2010-01-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun around our house this December. Robert made his first gingerbread house. I was even able to stand by and let him do it his way. He enjoyed sorting out the colors of candy and placing them in lines on the roof.

Nicholas' big news is that he is now sitting up. He's still a little wobbly, but he can do it. Hopefully he will wait a little while before he starts crawling. I'm not ready for that yet!

Robert has been enjoying tangrams lately. I decided that I needed to make a concerted effort to do math related activities since I am so much more inclined to teach him reading.

We enjoyed a snowy day. It was too wet to stick, but it did snow quite a bit.

Robert discovered the joy of licking the spoon (or whisk in this case). This was pastry cream from eclairs. "Yummy in my tummy" as Robert would say.

All bundled up.

It really is snowing. You just can't tell.

Incredibly blessed.

2009-12-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

I'm so grateful that the holidays are here and I get to spend it with all my boys. I'm looking forward to seeing Robert really appreciate all the joys of the Christmas season this year. He's old enough to know what's going on without being old enough to be preoccupied with what toys he will get. I love that this year, he knows who baby Jesus is and we can start explaning the real meaning of Christmas to him. Nicholas is a joy as well. He is an amazingly smiley baby. He smiles all the time with a dimpled grin that melts hearts wherever we go. He is really "talking" a lot now. He makes the silliest sounds and curls his mouth up in the strangest ways trying to imitate speech.
Robert is entertaining us with his vivid imagination lately. We have heard numerous adventures of a garbage motor home with pink stripes like a zebra. Oh, and it had five eyes and a piece of bread in its mouth. Yesterday he looked in the bushes at church on the way to the car and said "I've never seen a tiger in these bushes before." He is really into anything to do with spaceships and rockets. Anything can be a space ship for him and he loves counting down and blasting off.

These are just a few of the hundreads of pictures I took trying to get a respectable Christmas card picture. It is SO much harder with two!

This boy has impossibly blue eyes.

Just get used to it Nicholas. Your brother is a goofy guy!

When did my baby grow up and get so handsome? He looks a lot like pictures we have of his granddaddy at his age. Big Robert was quite the heartbreaker (there was even a Robert George fan club at my parents church when they were growing up-of course my dad did not know about it.) This picture makes me think little Robert will be a heartbreaker too.

Not to mention this handsome guy.

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

I mean, really!

Robert catches up on his reading after comandeering the Bumbo seat.

A farmer and his crop

2009-11-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun this Halloween with our little farmer and our pea in the pod. We went to two fall festivals on Friday and then on Halloween we went over to Mimi and Boopa' s and then to Gigi and Grandaddy's.

Nicholas didn't complain once even though he had to keep getting in and out of his costume to get in his car seat.

This is how a real boy plays golf.

Lots of laughs

2009-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Nicholas is changing so much! He is laughing all the time now, especially when his big brother is being goofy. Robert, of course gets a big kick out of this. For several weeks, Nicholas has been holding himself up better in the bumbo seat and reaching for toys.

Robert is enjoying Kindermusik and Mother's Day out once a week. We have been doing a lot of fun projects at home as well. This week he learned how to hold scissors and cut paper. He had fun for a long time running his cars through paint.

Fall Fun

2009-10-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch #2

2009-10-28T08:26:00.001-07:00

Little Peanut

2009-10-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dewberry Farm

2009-10-28T08:09:00.001-07:00

Nicholas at 3 months

2009-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Nicholas is growing up s fast. He is a really sweet, laid back little guy. He looks a lot like Robert and different at the same time. He smiles a lot at us, his brother and at all kinds of things around the house that strike his fancy. He really likes his puppy dog bouncer toy and will stare at it and smile and talk to it. Last night, he laughed for the first time. He laughed at Mimi and Boopa's dog, Maggie. I guess we just weren't funny enough for him. He is a great sleeper. He has been sleeping through the night for over a month now, and sleeping from 8pmto 6am for a few weeks. Robert thinks it is really funny to wake him up and to scare him and make him cry. I guess this is the beginning of many years of brotherly pestering.

Nicholas can just about sit up in his Bumbo seat.

Galveston Trip

2009-09-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

We took a much needed vacation last week. It was great to only have to drive an hour and be at the beach. We did a lot of relaxing on the beach and eating good food. Just the right speed for a family with a newborn.

Nicholas hanging out on the beach.

We went to the Rainforest Cafe. Of course the food was pretty mediocre, but Robert had a great time.

Robert tried for half and hour to fill the moat his dad built around his sand castle. He would pour the water in and then say "more water!" and then run to get more. By the time he got back the water would have soaked in, but Robert wouldn't give up until we finally had to leave.

Nicholas was less than impressed with the beach but he was a trooper.

We went to Palm Beach at Moody Gardens one day.

Nicholas did not like the cold water.

This was as far as he got in the water.

We went on a tour of the bay to see dolphins. Robert makes friends wherever he goes so the Captain let him "drive" the boat.

Five Generations

2009-09-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

The boy and I went with my grandparents and my mom to visit my 100 year old great grandmother in Lake Jackson. We were able to get a picture of five generations. Pretty rare I'd say. Robert said "Grandmother's house!" when we got there even though the last time we were there was probably a year or more ago. We all had a wonderful time. Grandmother is one special lady.

I finally gave in and enrolled Robert in Mother's Day Out one day a week. It is partly for my sanity and partly for him to learn to play around other kids better. He loves it and doesn't bat an eye when I leave or come to pick him up.

Growing up

2009-09-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Nicholas is changing so fast. He is growing and filling out despite his reflux and what seems like a huge amount of spitting up. We went to Mansfield last weekend for cousin Caleb's first birthday. Everyone had a lot of fun.

Caleb in his police car.

Aunt Katy had a very cushy swing and one night Nicholas was having a really hard time with reflux. We put him in it and he instantly stopped. She very kindly let us borrow it. I think Nicholas' face says it all.

Touch a Truck

2009-09-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

We braved the August heat and took the boys to a "Touch a Truck" event. Robert had a wonderful time seeing and climbing on all kinds of rescue vehicles and trucks.

It was blisteringly hot, but fortunately, there were free snow cones!

2009-08-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

We made a quick trip to the arboretum for as long as we could stand the heat. Both boys enjoyed being outside. Robert got to dig a hole to plant a plant

Robert's favorite things right now are hot wheels. They are always lined up in rows all over the house. He is also very into stacking things and I thought it was pretty impressive how he stacked these cars.

Nicholas will be six weeks old in a few days. He is starting to smile and coo a little. He has also been able to roll over from his tummy to his back for a few weeks. He has had a rough few weeks because of reflux and so far the Zantac the doctor put him on has not made it go away like it did for Robert. He is growing and gaining weight just fine though.

Nicholas went to church for the first time this Sunday. Here he is in his car seat all dressed up and ready to go.

Big Boy Room

2009-08-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Since Robert got a little brother, he also got a new room. I felt that I needed to brag on my husband and father-in-law since they made Robert's beautiful new bed. After about a week long transition period, Robert now sleeps in his big boy bed with no problem. Now, when he plays with his tool bench, he loves to "build" beds.
I can't believe he's big enough to sleep in a twin bed! He's been a trooper about all the changes that have been happening in his life.

Settling in

2009-07-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

We're getting settled in as a family of four. Nicholas is an easy baby and we have been having to wake him up in the middle of the night to eat. At his two week appointment, he had gained well past his birth weight so our doctor says now we can let him wake us up at night.

Nicholas' first bath at home.

We went over to my grandparents' house for the day. This is Robert, Nicholas, and G randpa.

Robert has started calling himself Robert Edward and when asked, "Who calls you that?" he says, "Grandpa." My grandfather calls us all by our first and middle names.

The big guy is really growing up fast. He is adapting well to being a big brother. He loves to hold and kiss Nicholas. He has his jealous moments of course, but for the most part, he is doing great. Turning two really brought a lot of changes for him. He became potty trained at two and started sleeping in his big boy bed soon after that.

We are really seeing his imagination develop. He loves to pretend that his food is a spaceship as he flies it around and says "Take off!" The other day he put an ice cream cone on top of a milk carton and said, "Tower, downtown, Daddy works." His favorite toys right now are hot wheels cars and trucks. Every person he knows is assigned a vehicle. Any sports car is "Daddy rides," his helicopter is "Grandaddy rides," and for some unknown reason, the futuristic ambulance is "Grandma and Grandpa ride" to name a few.

Before little brother arrived...

2009-07-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Since I was on bedrest, I thought that Robert got cheated out of his last bit of time as our only child. So I crammed the two weeks between getting off bedrest and Nicholas being born with special times with my number one boy.

Robert helped with painting vehicles for his new room.

The three of us went to a farmer's market nearby and picked blackberries. At first Robert was just picking them, but once he tasted one, he was just going down the rows picking and eating as fast as he could. He was a blackberry mess by the time we left.

Robert and I went to Build a Bear to make a new friend to take to the hospital.

Robert made his first jello and cut out fun shapes.

Nicholas Beck Welling

2009-07-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Beck Welling was born on Friday July 10, at 1:57 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. God blessed us and allowed us to make it to 38 weeks and for him to be born before my blood pressure became a major issue. After spending the morning counting contractions we headed to the hospital after they were 5 minutes apart for an hour. After that Nicholas didn't mess around. We arrived at the hospital around 12:30 and he was born an hour and a half later. Luckily my mom had arrived just in time to watch Robert for us. She took him out of the room to go potty and when they came back they couldn't come back in because things had gotten pretty intense for me as I waited for the doctor to arrive so Nicholas could be born. Dr. Turner arrived just in time because I was beginning to think I couldn't resist the need to push for many more contractions. After a few hours in the NICU because he was having trouble regulating his temperature and blood sugar, Nicholas is doing great. Although I don't think Nicholas is exactly what Robert was expecting all these months, he loves his little brother. He is very gentle around him and loves giving him kisses and imitating his baby sounds and movements.

Robert meets Nicholas for the first time.

Nicholas ready to go home for the first time.

34 weeks

2009-06-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

I thought I should give an update. Yesterday we had to go to the hospital because of contractions. They gave me terbutaline and the contractions stopped, but now I am on bedrest. A week from Thursday, I will be 36 weeks and we should be able to relax a bit. When little Nicholas is born, we'll be sure to post pictures.

Robert's 2nd birthday!

2009-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but Robert is 2! He had a jungle safari birthday and it was a lot of fun.

Since Robert is two, we decided he was ready for a backpack to take to Sunday School. This is the little man all dressed up on his way to church.

On his actual birthday, Robert woke up to a special breakfast.

Robert and I went downtown so he could have a birthday lunch at the park with his Daddy.

That night, we had dinner at Johnny Rockets with Robert's grandparents and great grandparents. He got a special dessert and the restaurant sang happy birthday to him.

Easter and more

2009-05-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

This was the first year Robert was able to appreciate Easter festivities. We're looking forward to teaching him the real meaning of Easter, but it was a bit over his head this year.

Robert met the Easter bunny at our neighborhood park. He wasn't scared, but he wasn't all that impressed either.

We had to have our egg hunt inside because it was raining.

We got a zoo membership so we're looking forward to lots of zoo trips with Robert and in a few months with his brother.

Robert found a new use for his Elmo Easter basket. He loves anything that makes people laugh.

Lots of fun

2009-03-30T11:25:00.001-07:00

First of all, Robert is excited that he is going to have a little brother. Or at least he would be if he really understood what is going on. He talks about the baby a lot and will point to my tummy and say baby, but then he'll point to his tummy and say it too. Robert is talking a lot more in general. His first sentence was "There it is" and he is combining a lot of other words as well. He has known hs letters and sounds since he was about 18 months and now we are working on numbers. We are amazed at his memory. If he was playing with a toy at night before going to bed, it is the first thing he asks for in the morning. My mom and I were in Walmart and he played with a truck that looked like a hippo and he called it hippo truck. Then, about a month and a half later, Glenn and I were there and when we got near the toys he said asked for the hippo truck. I'm thinking I may need to buy that for him since it made such an impression.

We went to Connecticut and New York in January because Glenn had a conference in Connecticut. We got to see friends in both places. The trip was mostly centered around fun things for Robert but my friend Amy was nice enough to watch Robert so Glenn and I could go to Mario Batali's restaurant Babbo one night.

At the Mystic Aquarium, Robert got to meet a Beluga whale.

The Connecticut part of the trip was very cold. It took some adjusting because Robert had never had to wear a coat before and he really didn't like it.
Robert loved playing in the snow until the pain of playing in the snow with bare hands set in. There was no way I was getting mittens on this stubborn little boy.

We went to the Bronx zoo with my good friend and roommate from SMU, Becca.

Riding the ferris wheel at the flagship Toys R Us in Times Square.

Fao Schwartz was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for Robert. It is an amazing store with some really unusual toys. The toys for little boys were much better than the typical super heros and robots you see at Toys R Us. It gave me lots of ideas for the future.

Pizza in Little Italy.

Robert met Elmo in Times Square. I think he thought he was meeting THE Elmo and he was grinning ear to ear. It is somewhat to my chagrin that he loves Elmo so much, but it was out of my control. There is just something about that little guy that Robert adores.

A few weeks ago, we went to the Houston Livestock show. This was a lot of fun for everyone.

Robert and cousin Caleb.

News

2009-01-14T18:54:00.000-08:00

First things first. Robert is going to be a big brother. The due date is July 24th, but I've learned from experience not to put too much stock into that.

So I'm way behind again. Before Thanksgiving, Daddy built Robert a really cool sandbox. This was a big deal since Robert's favorite things in the world are dirt and tractors

On Thanksgiving, Robert got to pick and eat an orange out of Grandma and Grandpa's garden.

Tomball College had snow brought in. Robert, having never seen anything like it, called it dirt but had a great time.

We gave Robert a train for Christmas. Or a "Boo Boo" as he calls them. Robert decided to sleep much later than usual. We waited as long as we could stand it, but we couldn't wait to see his reaction so we finally had to wake him up.

His face says it all.

After Christmas we went to San Antonio to see some friends. We took Robert to the zoo. The highlight was definitely the hippo. It is one of Robert's favorite animals right now.

Robert comes face to face with the hippo.

Fall Festivities

2008-11-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Robert was an adorable duck for Halloween. On Tuesday before Halloween, he went to Gymboree in costume (the teacher said to). He ended up being the only one dressed up, but he was so cute.

Robert and his Gymboree friends. Robert looks like: "why am I the only one who is dressed like a duck?"

Robert went to two fall festivals on Halloween, one at our church and one at G.G.'s church.
They had a petting zoo and Robert ot caught up in a stampede of goats. He loves the animals though.

Robert really enjoyed dunking the ducks in the duck pond game.

Robert really doesn't get sugar often. He very much enjoyed his sucker, but I'm afraid that was the extent of Halloween candy eating experience .(he didn't even finish it) But since he's just as happy eating fruit and peas and goldfish as snacks, I'm a little reluctant to introduce him to the world of sweets.

We visited a pumkin patch where they had all sorts of animals as well. We saw Llamas, a baby kangaroo, and this little guy. (among others)

17 months

2008-10-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Robert is 17 months old today. Here I am behind on his blog again. If you could see what goes on as I try to write this, you would understand. Robert is so active. He doesn't stop for a minute. Plus, he's fearless, so I have to worry about his jumping off his slide or climbing on everything

Robert experienced his first hurricane last month. We stayed at the Wellings during Ike. It was fun being with them and much easier having a generator than it would have been at our house for a week with no power. Robert has discovered that his Mimi is always willing to read a book.

We went to Stephenville to visit Aunt Laura at Tarleton State University. Laura is a star in Tarlton FFA and won the top award that weekend at their show, even though she is a freshman. Robert got to meet some of the animals.

We spotted a farmers market selling pumpkins and decided to pick out a few.

Robert and his friend Haddon eating fall cupcakes. Haddon's mom and I trade babysitting. She watches Robert while I teach clarinet, and I watch Haddon while she teaches piano.

Robert loves tractors. When he first started saying the word, he would whisper it. e're not sure why, maybe because he got so excited about them. He points them out everywhere we go. Glenn and I went away for the weekend and Robert stayed at my parents. He did great and had lots of fun with the tractor and playing in the rubber boots and overalls his granddaddy got for him.

A few weeks ago, Robert met his new cousin Caleb. He wasn't quite sure what to think of him, but he liked giving him kisses.

Big Fun

2008-09-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

For labor day weekend, Robert took a break from his regular routine of playing and napping, to...
play some more. We went with Mimi and Bopaw (aka the Wellings) to the downtown aquarium. It was so much fun. Robert got to see a lot of interesting fish very close up. He came face to face with a huge grouper and got a little scared. He wasn't scared at all by the moray eel (which I thought was way creepier). He stood in front of it doing his eel impression(opening and closing his mouth.)

Robert is very into books right now, which makes me very happy. He brings us an endless stream of books to read. His favorite is "My Truck is Stuck" (thanks to the McKinneys) followed closely by "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish." We enjoy going to the library for the baby song/story/play time and to get new books. He is learning so much and loves to point things out to us in his books. We're working on learning his colors one at a time. He's got yellow down and now we're on to red.

Recently, Robert has realized that he can push boxes and things around so that he can reach things. He's pretty fearless when it comes to climbing. This has prompted Glenn to get serious about putting the plexiglass up to keep him from climbing over the wall in our upstairs gameroom.

Seen on our wall lately.

Robert loves to pick up leaves off the ground and try to put them back on the tree.

The new fun toy around our house is the slide/basketball goal. Robert likes to say "yes!" when he makes a goal. He likes climbing up the slide as much as down.

Catching Up

2008-07-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on Robert's blog. I realized that I really need to keep up with this because I really rely on the blog to look back and remember what Robert has been doing.

This was a day that Robert and I went to meet Glenn downtown for lunch.

This is Robert with several of the cool things he got for his birthday.

Robert is really enjoying his Gymboree class. It is a bit challenging being the mommy with him there because he is such a determined little boy. He wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it, not necessarily whatever activity all the other babies are doing. He is however the best by far in his class at running around and climbing all over the play equipment.

We got to visit Aunt Jean and Uncle Allen and Robert got to meet their cat Sugar. We are so glad Aunt Jean is doing so much better.

When I ask Robert where something is, alot of times he does this.

Robert hosted an art party at our house for his friends Haddon and Jillian.

The thing that Robert loves more than anything right now is watermelon. He tries to say it and it comes out more like "mel melon."

We just got back from our cruise. It was a lot of fun despite the challenges of taking a baby along. Mealtimes were difficult but Robert did perfect saying "please" in sign language. This was important since we had a lot of screeching in the dining room when he wanted something.
Robert started saying "ball" on the cruise and I just realized that he is saying "balloon" as well.
He also just started signing "clean up" and even tries to dust the tables and put things away. I'm definitely all for that!

Happy Birthday Robert!

2008-05-26T14:33:00.001-07:00

Robert's first birthday party was so much fun! We had lots of friends and family here to celebrate Robert's big day!

The kids had fun with the pull string pinata.

Playing "pin the periscope on the submarine."

Robert enjoying his own little cake.

Robert and his Patrick the Pup from mommy and daddy.

Robert got to have lunch at Johnny Rockets on his actual birthday. He had his first kids meal (grilled cheese), an oreo shake (a few sips), and then the waiter brought him a birthday sunday. Then the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to him! It was quite a day.

A couple of weekends ago we went to the Houston Highland games and Scottish festival. We all had a lot of fun (even though we're not Scottish.)

Robert loves riding the carousel at the Woodlands mall. So far, he's not really afraid of anything.

11 Months +

2008-05-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Robert is growing up every day. He has taken a few cautious steps and is very good at standing on his own now. He walks very well behind his walker toy and he will walk to me sometimes if the distance is very small.
He is really picking up on the sign language now. His favorites are light and dog, but he also says daddy, all done, more, and clean up.
The funniest thing he does right now is how he dances to music. He does it with such abandon, waving his arms, clapping his hands, and shaking his hips. He likes to dance to the music that his toys play, and when the music stops, he reaches over and slams his hand down on the button to get it started again.

Robert getting all dressed up for church.

Walking behind the car that his great Grandma got for him to play with at her house. He goes really fast.

In his new swing in our backyard.

Charleston Trip

2008-04-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

We recently had a family trip to Charleston. It was a lot of fun and we discovered that Robert really loves the beach! He had so much fun playing in the sand and the water. The water was cold but he loved it and wasn't scared at all. Glenn just got back from his week and a half on the aircraft carrier for the reserves. We are glad to have him back. Robert is 10 1/2 months old and he changed a lot while his daddy was gone. He is right on the verge of walking. He is starting to let go and stand on his own for a few seconds. We stayed at my parents for part of the time Glenn was gone and Robert had fun with thier cat. We called her "kitty" to him and now every time he sees a cat, he says "kii." One morning my dad asked Robert if he wanted to help him feed Darcy and Robert said "Woof" and crawled after him. He has also started dancing to music which is really fun.

Here we are at Middleton Place plantation.

We stayed with our friends, the Holdgates, in Charleston. Here Robert is with their son Ryan, who is a month younger than Robert.

This is actually at Galveston beach. We went there 2 weekends ago because my friend Lindsay was visiting from Milwaukee and wanted to enjoy the sun.

Watch Out Bobby Flay!

2008-03-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

Robert has been working on his chef skills. He is really on the move. He is cruising now and he even climbed all the way up the stairs (with someone behind him of course.) This could make our first flight (we leave for Charleston today) very interesting because he really doesn't like to be held down. He has started doing his first sign- "more." Pretty much the obvious choice for him since he loves to eat. I also think he tried to do "ball" and he even said "ba" when he was playing with a ball and "du" with his rubber ducky.

More swing pictures. Robert really likes the park.

Robert's cousins Emma and Stella were in town staying with Mimi and Bopaw.

We got to join them at the Woodlands Children's Museum.

I think Robert's Papaw George (the dentist) would have been proud to see Robert so fascinated with the dental exhibit.

Fun Weekend

2008-03-01T07:59:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went to Aunt Laura's FFA project show. She did extremely well. Her pig, lamb, goat, and steer all made it into auction, but they only allow each student to take three to auction so she had to choose which one to leave out. Her steer won first in his weight class and Laura won beef showmanship (quite an honor.)

The cake mommy made for the auction won $550 for Klein Oak FFA.

Robert is really enjoying his Kindermusik Sing and Sing class.

On the Move

2008-02-17T19:26:00.001-08:00

Robert is crawling all over the place now. It only took him a few days of crawling however, to decide that pulling up on things would be more fun. This has resulted in a lot of head bumps. Robert turns 9 months old this Thursday. We can hardly believe it!

Robert wearing his adorable "Stud Muffin" onesie from Aunt Emily.

He likes to pull up on his play and learn kitchen.

Robert has taken to walking around on his hands and feet.

We went to Dallas last weekend. Here Glenn and Robert are with Eddy and Rory.

Here's Robert with Aunt Blanca, Joseph, and Jonathan.

Have keys, will drive Porsche.

Things tend to get a little messy when Daddy does the feeding.

Big Things

2008-01-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

Robert is eight months old today. We are all in Beaumont while Glenn works at the refinery for the week.
It's been a long time since the last post. A lot has been going on.
Robert has just barely mastered crawling and now he already started to pull up on things. I think we're in for a lot of trouble soon. Robert has started waving "hi" and "bye." He even waved back to a stranger at a restaurant yesterday.

On New Year's Eve, we took Robert to the zoo with some friends from church, the Martinez family.

Robert and Eden had a great time!

Robert especially enjoyed the petting zoo.

It was a great day, and Robert was totally tuckered out at the
end of it.

Robert had a playdate at home with another friend from church,
Jillian. He's quite the ladies man.

Robert is crawling now (basically). When he was learning how,
he did a lot of push ups.

Robert's hair was getting so long that we had to get his haircut.
He had a good time.

We had a fun day in the Woodlands with cousins Joseph and Jonathan.

Robert has started taking big boy baths in his own bathroom.
He loves playing in the tub.

We had a great Saturday outing to the cake store to buy an
airbrush. Afterwards, we stopped at Whole Foods and found
Robert some teething biscuits. We could tell he thought this
was the best treat ever, but we had to take it away when
he started getting pieces off of it.

Christmas with Robert

2007-12-30T12:03:00.001-08:00

Robert had a wonderful first Christmas. Besides missing naps and getting very tired, he really enjoyed himself.

We started a tradition with an advent calendar mommy made. This year, Daddy got to eat all the candy, but watch out next year!

Robert opens his stocking at Christmas #1 at Mimi and Bopaw's. This was one of many.

Robert's favorite part about Christmas hands down was eating the packaging.

We had a brief Christmas morning at our house. Robert got a laptop and daddy really liked the present Robert picked for him (a remote control helicopter.)

Christmas morning at GiGi and Granddaddy's.

Robert's chair that is exactly like daddy's.

Getting excited about Robert's 1st Christmas

2007-12-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

Robert surveys Aunt Laura's FFA vegetable patch. Last year she won grand Champion!

Robert celebrated his half birthday with cake from a shower that GiGi saved in her freezer all this time. Of course he wasn't allowed to eat his cake.

Robert at 6 months

2007-12-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

Robert has been exploring new foods. His first vegetable was butternut squash. He wasn't too sure about it at first. Mommy is making his food for him and she got it too thick the first time. Now he loves it. He's a great eater. He now gets sweet potatoes, apples, pears, peas, and carrots and loves them.

Robert hangs out with Noanie on Thanksgiving day.

Robert cheered on the Aggies with his Daddy.

Even with his big belly, Robert has managed to get his toes in his mouth.

Little Monkey

2007-11-02T13:03:00.001-07:00

Robert was the cutest little monkey for Halloween. Robert and I spent the second half of the week at the Galleria since Glenn had meetings there for work. We had these pictures made for his 5 month birthday.

2007-10-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Five Generations

Last Monday, Robert had the very great honor of meeting his 98 year old great great grandmother. She even came all the way to our house to meet him. It was a very special time. How many little boys get to meet their great great grandmother. We got a picture of Robert, me, my mom, my grandfather, and my great grandmother. How special to have a record of this five generations meeting.

Robert with Grandmother, Aunt Joy, Aunt Jean, and Uncle Allen.

Robert is learning to play in his bouncer toy.

Robert's first time in his high chair.

Too sweet.

2007-10-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Robert's Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, Robert went to a pumpkin patch and had a great time.

We actually had to make two trips to the pumpkin patch because when we first got there, Robert was asleep and we could not wake him up.

Robert helped choose some pumpkins for us.

Robert's favorite new toy is his banana pal. He loves to "eat" it like a real banana.

Speaking of eating, Robert started rice cereal this weekend. We're not sure how much is actually getting eaten, if any.

Robert's other grwat new toy is his adorable sock monkey. He likes to eat it too.

Daddy and Robert like to lounge around together on Sunday mornings before church.

Robert is already staking his claim on the remote control!

He has realized that his feet are lots of fun.

2007-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Robert at 4 months
Robert continues to amaze us with how much he is growing and changing every day. He is becoming a lot more mobile. He now can roll over onto his tummy. No longer content to sit in his 'bouncy seat,' he prefers to stand up in it, or to do pull ups by grabbing the toy bar that is sometimes attached.

We recently headed to Waco for cousin Stella's first birthday party. It was his longest roadtrip to date. Emma is great with Robert even though Robert doesn't quite understand the concept of hugs yet.

We tried to get a picture of Robert and Stella, but Stella needed a nap and Robert needed to eat, so it didn't go too well.

Robert is now strong enough to really enjoy his Bumbo seat. He likes to watch Mommy cook and Daddy make capuccinos.

Robert has really started laughing and enjoying playing with us recently. He also started 'talking' all the time. He can carry on conversations forever, if only we knew what he was talking about.

Robert in his little man outfit.

Daddy went to Washington DC for work, so Robert went to stay at his Great Granparents house.

2007-09-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Robert is growing and changing so fast! He smiles all the time now and is learning how to laugh.
He is a champ at holding his head up and he even tries to stand up when he' s on our lap. We are seeing a lot of signs that he is teething. I'm pretty sure you can see a tiny bit of a tooth. It's really early, but he's been in a hurry to do everything (even being born).

We went to a fun bakery for coffee, gelato, and internet since Daddy accidentally cut the cable line. Robert had fun even though he didn't get any gelato.

Glenn reads Robert and Aggie book. He's starting early. Robert humors him.

Robert is so tall! Now he can sit in his chair all by himself.

Last week, Robert got to visit with his cousins Joseph and Jonathan.

2007-08-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

Growing Fast

Robert is really changing a lot. He has been smiling and "talking" a lot more. He is holding his head up more and really wants to be on the go. Robert is growing so fast! He is very tall. We found out at his two month appointment that he is in the 95th percentile for height.

This weekend, Robert went to his first cultural event, not counting all the symphony concerts he went to before he was born. His cousin-in-law, Jessica, is a distinguished writer and Robert attended her book reading and signing. We are all very impressed with Jessica and her accomplishments and Robert can't wait to read her children's book!

We are really starting to notice a cute personality.

Robert enjoys stretching his legs on his Giddy up and Go gym.

Believe it or not, this is one of three submarine outfits we have found for Robert.

2007-07-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

Robert has had an eventful week. Lots more smiling and a little more rolling over.
Sunday was his first time at church, and consequently, my first time in 4 months.
Afterwards, we headed to Aunt Katy's birthday party and Robert decided that overalls better fit that occasion.
Robert and I have been spending more time in his room. He seems to like it in there (lots of new things to look at). Oh, and last night, he slept from 10 until 4:15. That's when his dad gets up, so I'd almost call that sleeping through the night. It sure felt like it to me anyway.

2007-07-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, Robert is 6 weeks going on 7. The last two weeks have been rough for the little guy. First, we went to the pediatrician for a little eye infection. While we were talking to the doctor about how Robert was doing, he came to suspect that Robert has reflux. We got rid of the eye infection and started him on medicine for the reflux, which seems to make him a lot more comfortable. Then, he caught a cold from Glenn. No fun at all. We decided to stay in and let Robert enjoy the holiday with Daddy at home.

As you can tell from this picture, Robert is growing. When I took him to the pediatrician for his cold, he weighed 11 pounds!

This was taken on Father's day. We had a celebration at our house with both Robert's grandpas and his great grandpa. Here he is hanging out with big Robert.

Latest

2007-06-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

So far we have have had a couple of rollovers from his tummy to his back and even a couple of smiles. We think they may have actually been intentional smiles at us!

Let's see- he lost his umbilical cord- a big days for all of us and has since had several baths. THe baths seem to relax him even more if he is not already upset. They relax everything... including the muscles that keep the poo and the pee in, so you have to really be on guard during bath time...

Here are some more pics.

Robert at 2 weeks

2007-06-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Robert had his two week appointment. He is growing well. He is now 21 inches and 8 pounds 5 ounces. That is 7 ounces over his birth weight. He is a growing boy. Robert is having a lot more awake time now and is a lot of fun. He is fond of making very cute and entertaining faces. He is a strong little boy and likes to assert his independence by lifting his head up. We have also discovered that his bowels are very forceful. We first noticed this at 2 in the morning when he shot poop 3 feet from his pack n play changing table onto our bedspread!
Here are some of the 300 pictures that Glenn took Friday morning when Robert was being particularly animated.

Home... We arrived on home on Wednesday at around noon. Here are some pics. We are very tired...

2007-05-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

He's Here!

2007-05-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last night Kelly and I went to dinner at the home of David and Lisa Veach- David was a friend of mine at A&M. We went over at about 6 PM, had dinner at about 7 PM, and were wrapping up the evening around their dinner table at about 8:30 when Kelly got a strange look on her face. Lisa asked if their cat brushed against her leg because of the look of surprise on Kelly's face. Kelly said no, and we all realized she thought her water had broken. We loaded up in our car and Dave led us to the hospital, since I did not know how to gt there for sure and figured this was a bad time to mess up directions. We checked in at about 9 PM and by 9:30 they said Kelly was dilated between 3 and 4 cm. By about 12:30 she was at 7 cm and by about 1:15 she was fully dilated. After about a half hour of pushing little Robert joined the world at 1:58 AM on May 21. He is 7 lbs and 14 oz (much bigger than we expected at 37 weeks and 3 days along) and 20.5 inches long. He is doing great! And he has lots of hair. Kelly is on Magnesium (the same stuff that was so rough on her in California) for higher than desired blood pressure, but she feels as good as possible and the magnesium only seems to be making her a little tired, as opposed to the way it affected her in California. That is the quick update. Here are some pictures...

Term!

2007-05-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

As of today we are officially at term. They consider 37-40 weeks as being at term, but there really is not much different today than there was yesterday... Due to Kelly's pregnancy induced hypertension we will have to induce if he is not born by 39 weeks (2 weeks from today) so our prayer is that he will be born before then.

Introducing...

2007-05-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just kidding.

Kelly woke up to some fairly strong contractions this morning at 5:30. After 2 hours of stronger than the usual contractions- almost always 5 minutes apart- and a phone call to the doc, we headed to the hospital. She was monitored for about 2 hours and checked for dilation at the beginning and end of tht time period. There was no change over that time despite some strong contractions. Right now she is just under 2 cm dilated.

We are back at home until the next trip to the hospital...

Update

2007-05-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

Kelly had a doctor appointment yesterday and she is now allowed to walk around the house, though she is only doing that on a limited basis.

She also has pregnancy induced hypertension. She has blood pressure that gets a little higher than we would like about half of the time. It is something we just need to watch.

Because of that, they will induce if he is not born by 39 weeks. We hit 36 weeks tomorrow...

All in all, we are pleased with how everything is going.

Provision and Thankfulness

2007-05-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Considering that so many people have been praying for us, I thought it would be appropriate to show the numerous ways that God has taken care of us:

1) 1 week before we began our vacation we went to Dallas where we saw one of Kelly’s good friends and her family- her Dad is the head of neonatology at Brown medical school and its associated hospital. They told us to call if there were ever any problems. We were on the phone with him numerous times throughout this process. He was a great comfort, a source of important information and dialogue, and served as a second opinion. I suppose it is rare to have that caliber of a doctor available in such a capacity.
2) By the first night, I had only slept about 3 hours in the past 36- not out of the ordinary from my submarine days, but with the stress of what happened, the constant backrubs and efforts to keep Kelly as comfortable as possible while she was writhing in discomfort from the magnesium. By about 1 AM I really could not function and that was just when Kelly’s mom arrived at the hospital.
3) A ministry with the hospital has three fully furnished apartments available for families of patients who live greater than 30 miles away. There is waiting list, but after two days one of them opened up. Initially it provided a place to sleep or clean up and after Kelly got out of the hospital- we all stayed there. It enabled us to cook, feel as much of a sense of home as possible and it only cost $35 per night.
4) I had rented our car through Priceline and we were supposed to return it to San Francisco airport. Due to the fact that I was unable to return it to the correct airport- an additional charge of about $750 was added. I called Avis customer service and they would not help me, nor would Priceline. While I was on the phone getting the runaround from Priceline, the desk clerk did something to reduce the extra charge to only $20.
5) Countless friends, family members, acquaintances and nurses who had premature babies that turned out healthy told us of their stories- it was a real encouragement.
6) The nurses were fantastic.
7) Her doctor, who happened to be the on-call OB when we came in a 4:30 in the morning, was phenomenal every step of the way. She had a great bedside manner.
8) I was able to get internet access to log in to work and work for a full 2 and half weeks while we out there. Everyone at work was incredibly helpful and understanding.
9) We prayed for wisdom and clarity for us and the physicians as we tried to ascertain when/if to come home. Kelly and I considered coming home a week early and the doctors clearly advised against it. It was as clear as possible that we would be able to come home the following week.
10) We considered booking a first class flight just to give Kelly extra room to stretch out. Obviously that would have been expensive. My dad had some about to expire Southwest frequent flyer tickets, and because Kelly was in a wheel chair we were able to get the front row and probably had more leg room then we would have had in most first class seats.
11) We have good insurance.
12) All indications are that Robert is doing great!

This is a list off the top of my head. We are extremely thankful to God and to everybody who has prayed for us, called us, and offered to help in any way.

And Finally...

Robert will be 35 weeks tomorrow!

The one wrinkle is that Kelly has had some moderately high blood pressure- it appeared at her doctor visit on Monday. Some tests are being run, and at this point in time there is not cause for alarm, but we are monitoring it.

Home!

2007-04-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

We are going to have a Texas baby! We made it home safely- with the normal amount of minor contraction activity throughout the flight. Yesterday afternoon was looking a little shaky, but yesterday evening and this morning everything was normal, so we felt comfortable getting on the plane. Thank you everbody who prayed for our discernment and safe travel.

Coming Home!

2007-04-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today we got the go ahead from Dr.Huang to come home on Saturday. Now my job is to stay down until then and pray nothing happens between now and then. Please pray for us that things would stay calm but also that we would have wisdom leading up to the flight. We will be the ones that ultimately have to decide whether or not to get on the plane on Saturday. Thank you all again for all your prayers and support.

Still Hanging Around

2007-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Nothing new as of today. Kelly did not feel any contractions as a result of our little road trip yesterday, so that is a very key data point.

Robert is at 33 weeks and 5 days. We are REALLY looking forward to heading home- still planning on Saturday. We have an appointment with the OB on Thursday. Our prayer is that we would have wisdom about whether or not we should fly on Saturday and we appreciate your prayers for the same.

Kelly's mom scanned a 4-D ultrasound image of Robert. This picture was taken when Robert was 30 weeks old.

Outing

2007-04-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Today we made the big trip to Sonoma. We had a wonderful lunch. It felt so great to get outside and be up and about. The best part is, nothing happened as far as we know. I didn't have any more contractions than normal (well, as normal as it's been for the last two weeks.
The next step is to take it easy until the doctors appointment on Thursday and hopefully, she will give us the ok to come home on Saturday.

Less than a week

2007-04-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

We are hoping to come home on Saturday, so now we have less than one week left in California (we hope). Tomorrow we have our exciting journey to have lunch out. Hey, I'll take what I can get at this point. Hopefully, that will go well and make us feel more confident about the flight.
We can't wait to be home. We have new granite that we haven't even seen and believe it or not we're actually missing Darcy (Glenn more than me). Evidently she's acting a lot better as of late. The George grandparents have been keeping her and they're not dying to pass her off to the Wellings. Maybe she thinks we had finally had it with her and she'd better be a good dog or she'll get abandoned again. My dad said they're turning her into a real dog. She runs around their property and chases the horse and even seems to want to play with the steer. She's still scared of dogs though. She'll still only be able to come to our house for visits when we get back, because I won't be able to deal with her and be on bedrest.
Anyway, enough about our crazy dog, we'll update everyone after tomorrow's excursion.

Big Oops

2007-04-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

I put the wrong mailing address on our blog before.

It is:
871 (not 971) Sonoma Ave., Apartment D
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Sorry for any problems that might have created.

Nothing new so far today.

Clarification on the post below

2007-04-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

I want to explain why the doctors are not keen on us flying back this weekend.

1) Flying back anytime before Robert is born has some risk that Kelly could go into labor on the flight. More specifically, Kelly sat in a sofa for 30 minutes and has been on a car ride for about 30 minutes. Going home will require a 1:15 drive to the airport trasferring her to a wheelchair, checking in, going through security, sitting while we wait, getting on the plane and then sitting in the plane seat for probably 4 hours (3.5 hour flight). All that is MUCH more than Kelly has experienced in the past 2 weeks and that much motion and disturbance might trigger labor.
2) Robert is at 33 weeks today. Babies are considered full term between 37 and 40 weeks.
3) Nothing magical happens at 34 weeks, but even an extra half week lowers the chances that there could be problems
4) If Robert was born today, odds are that everything would be okay. At this stage about 10% of babies have problems associated with prematurity. White male premature babies tend to fare then worst.
5) If you overlay the 10% chance that he might have a problem with the unlikely odds that Kelly would give birth on the plane, the odds are small, but we want to minimize the risks.
6) We have repeatedly heard 34+ weeks as a stage where the doctors (Kelly's OB and 2 neonatologists) would be more comfortable.

Hopefully that explains all the thoughts.

We had prayed for very clear guidance in the doctor visit this morning and we feel we got it. So as long as things hold stable, we are planning on coming back April 28, four weeks to the day after we left for vacation....

More waiting

2007-04-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, during our conversation with the OB, we feel like we got clear guidance that we should NOT fly back this Sunday. That guidance corroborates with a discussion I had with the dad of one of Kelly's friends, a neonatologist at Brown Medical School that has been very helpful throughout all of this.

We had let our minds get set on coming back this Sunday and kind of jumped the gun. It is hard to know we will be here probably at least through next Friday. It was particularly hard on Kelly to think about being here another week. Her eyes can't focus very well right now- we think because of the medicine she is on- so it is hard to read. She is so tired of watching TV, so there is really not much she can do, so that makes staying here another week hard for her to deal with.