The first two weeks...

Tomorrow, Ethan will be two weeks old. I don't remember much about those first few days, except that I was in a sleep-deprived fog. Thankfully, things are getting better. Ethan is mostly sleeping on his own for two 3.5 - 4 hour stretches at night, and is taking pretty decent daytime naps. Let's hope that trend continues!!! My mom and Jeff's mom have been taking turns staying with us, so Jeff and I haven't been "on our own" yet with the two kids. I'm sure that will present some new challenges when my mom goes home this weekend. It's been nice having an extra pair of hands around!

This is a picture of Ethan in his car seat for the first time. I know it won't be long until his feet are hanging over the edge. But for now, he looks so tiny!

These are pictures that Jeff took over the weekend. Ethan is one week old here.

And this one below cracks me up...Jeff captured Ethan's expression in mid-poop.

It's been nice having friends and family stop by to visit. Here is Ethan with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Lindsey.

Kaitlyn is spoiled rotten with attention from grandparents these last two weeks. I don't know what she's going to do when all the grandparents are gone! In the picture below, Papa Greg is making "snow" by shaking the blooms off our Bradford pears. It's the only snow she got to experience this year!

Kaitlyn has been so good with Ethan. Several times a day, she gives him kisses and is generally pretty fascinated by him. Since he doesn't really have his own crib yet, sometimes I put him in Kaitlyn's for a few minutes for a change of scenery. Kaitlyn always wants to get in with him. In the picture below, she's giving him kisses.

And here she is imitating Ethan and having so much fun doing it. I hope she continues to enjoy her baby brother this much!

Our newest family member

We're happy to announce the arrival of Ethan Daniel Krinks! He was born on Friday evening and weighed 9 pounds and 9 ounces. Our not-so-little baby is home and doing great! Kaitlyn is fascinated by bee-bee-eee-in (Baby Ethan) and is happy to help rock him in the swing and wrap him up in blankets. Ethan slept great last night--as long as someone held him at all times :) Somehow we need to convince him that it's okay to sleep without being held...wish us luck!

A Visit from Noah

Sorry for the lapse in blog postings. We've been preoccupied with preparations for the new baby--who is expected to arrive any day now! Plus, there hasn't been a lot of "blog-worthy" things to post about recently. But yesterday, we had the pleasure of having Jess and Noah come to Nashville for a quick visit. Kaitlyn and Noah hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so they were excited to play together again. They loved hugging on each other, as you can see in the picture above. (Mimi and Papa Greg, this picture is especially for you!)

Noah is really into guitars right now. He had a blast playing on Kaitlyn's toy one. There are real strings to strum! He even knows how to hold it right and dance while playing. Perhaps a future rock star in the making??

Kaitlyn is checking to make sure that Noah's heart is beating properly. Noah was a good sport about it all. We had a pretty traumatic visit to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for an ear infection that involved having her ear irrigated. I was afraid that she would hate all things doctor-related for a while, so I was happy to see her pull out her trusty stethoscope again.

This morning before Jeff left for work, he helped Noah play a real guitar, complete with a loud amplifier. Noah was all smiles as he slipped the strap over his head and began banging out some music.

Not wanting to be left out, Kaitlyn took her turn too. Love the toothy smile. That's her "excited" smile these days.

And finally, since their arms are a little short right now, they decided that a tag-team performance was the way to go. Kaitlyn took the frets while Noah strummed away on the strings. They're so much fun together! And it's only going to get better as we add another Baby Krinks and Baby Risinger to the mix over the next months!