The First Bath

I don't really know why we take pictures of our children's first baths but I felt like I should, so I did... (Do other people do this too? Or am I just a little crazy with how many pictures I take of my kids?)  Hudson is our chill little guy. He hardly ever makes a peep, the most noise I've really ever heard him make was tonight during his first at-home sponge bath. He was not much of a fan of lying on a towel and getting wiped down with a wet washcloth (I wouldn't be either...). But as soon as we got him wrapped back up and Mike massaged some shampoo into his hair, boy was he in heaven.

Mike said that's how his first bath in the hospital was too. He whined a little while the nurse washed his little body but as soon as she moved on to the scalp massage he was a happy camper.

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4 Days

It felt so so good to bring our baby boy home and has been so great enjoying him here. The girls have done wonderfully so far, well given the circumstances... We have quite the little sick bug running around our house right now so Hudson and I are pretty much quarantined to our bedroom so he doesn't catch it. It's horrible because they keep asking if they can hold him or give him kisses and I have to keep saying no, not until the sick buggies go away... But, even though they can't hold him or really be near him yet, they are both still so excited about their new baby brother. 

I'm excited about him too :) He is such a good baby. The first couple nights were spent holding him, partly because I didn't want to let him go, and the other part because he just wanted to nurse (so I didn't get any real sleep) but since the milk fairies paid us a visit he has slept great (well, for a newborn at least). 

Everyone keeps asking how the transition from 2-3 really is. I don't think our case is all too typical because we have my mom and Mike's mom here right now to ease the transition, and it's only been a few days, but so far it's been really great. Like I said though, the girls have been sick so I've been taking care of one child while Mike and the Grandma's take care of the girls. As soon as they get better and everyone leaves though, ask me again... I'm sure my answer will be different :)


(Also, obviously my blogging has suffered since this little guy came, but I promise I've still been taking lots of pictures, I just haven't found time to post anything. But I do instagram just about everyday so if you are dying for a baby fix you can follow mw on there: Kirbymama)

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Good Morning

It's amazing how much adrenaline kicks in after you have a baby. I hadn't slept one second the night before Hudson came (I was laboring instead) and still the next night, all I wanted to do was hold my little guy or look at him. That first night it was just me and my baby in the hospital while Mike was at home with the girlies. I missed him a lot, but it was really special having some time to myself, just me and my baby. I knew once we left the hospital it would be harder to find that quiet time again so I was taking in and enjoying every second of it. 

I slept for almost three hours that night and only because my nurse came in and told me she was going to take Baby Kirby to the nursery for monitoring (which was really just her way to get me to actually lay down and sleep). I woke up at 3am, just seconds before he was wheeled back into my room, I think my heart knew he was coming even before my mind was awake. We spent the next few hours nursing, changing alot of diapers (and only getting peed on once!), cuddling, and enjoying the sunrise out the large windows in our room. 

I felt so blessed to be able to spend the night and next morning with this little man. 

After dropping Kylie off at preschool, Daddy and Emily came to see us for a bit. Daddy spent some time with Baby Kirby, Emily took advantage of the hospital snack room and played on the ipod and I got to take in another quick little nap.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Daddy and the girls came back after nap time and we finally decided on a name for our little guy in the last hour of our hospital stay. We named him Hudson Edward Kirby. Hudson because I really liked the name, Edward after his grandpa and great grandpa Kirby (and many many other generations down the Kirby line), and Kirby because, as Kylie says, "he's our Kirby boy."

We finally left room 116 at about 7pm and headed home to our comfy beds and a home cooked meal.

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Day One with My Guy

This time around our hospital stay was alot different than it was when we had each of the girls. There was alot of quiet time with just me and my baby boy while Mike was taking care of the girls at home for meals, naps and bedtimes or bringing them to and from the hospital. Let's be honest, there really isn't much for a 2 and 4 year old to do in a hospital room so they weren't there for very long at a time. I missed having Mike there with us, but it's kind of how it all seemed to work out with brother coming 6 days early and our plan A (my mom was going to be there in a couple days to watch the girls for us) turning into a hurried plan B. Luckily, we did have a couple of friends that offered to take the girls for a few hours in the evening so Mike could get back and spend some time with his new son before getting back to put the girls to bed. 

During most of the afternoon though, it was me and my new guy. Thats the greatest thing about being in the hospital, you have people taking care of you and you get to just sit there and get to know your new baby. Those were some of my favorite moments of the whole day, sitting in the quiet room with my little boy, just staring at him. 

When Mike got back after dinner to spend a couple hours with us, it was the perfect way to end the most perfect day. He sat in the rocking chair cuddling his new baby and I just watched. It's amazing to see the man you love holding your brand new baby, and it's even more amazing to feel your love grow in that very moment. I am a very lucky mommy, a very, very lucky mommy. 

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Meeting Hudson

Hudson's story was wonderful. It was such a special morning, one that caught us by surprise but it all happened so perfectly and I am so grateful for that. We had the amazing Jessica Kettle there to capture every detail and as soon as we get those pictures I will share his story.

For now I'll skip forward to the morning when the girls met their little brother. The night before, when we put the girls to bed, none of us knew that they'd be waking up as big sisters (again). So they were very surprised when they woke and mommy and daddy weren't there (Don't worry, we had a couple of friends taking turns staying at the house while we were at the hospital). I wish I could have seen their reactions when they heard that baby brother had come while they were sleeping. I can only imagine...

After the girls finished their breakfast at home, Mike left Hudson (who didn't have a name yet, btw) and I at the hospital to cuddle while he went to pick them up. When they got back I remember hearing their little voices coming down the hall and their excited little squeals coming from behind the curtain. Daddy pulled out the video camera, and I got ready to see my big girls (who grew up overnight). They were so excited to meet their brother (who was only a couple hours old) and they were so sweet to him right away. Kylie immediately asked if she could hold him and Emily crawled up onto the bed and just wanted to kiss him over and over again. It was such a special and surreal morning.

Our first family picture as a family of 5

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Hudson Edward Kirby

He is here and we couldn't be more in love.

Hudson Edward Kirby 

9/25/12 7:07am 

8lbs, 9oz, 21 inches
 
Details and many many more pictures to come, but for now I am going to go soak in every second I can with my new favorite little man. 

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Kylie's First Day of Preschool

It happened. Our first born officially grew up and started Preschool. I couldn't be more proud of her :) She is attending the BYU Preschool this year, just like her Daddy (well, obviously he's not in the preschool, but they are just one building apart on campus). 

The school is so great! It is full of fun activities and the nicest teachers. We are really excited for her this year!

On her first day we were all up at the crack of dawn, ready with the outfit that Kylie picked our herself and a nice hot breakfast. I was so proud that we were doing so well on time. I even had some time to curl Kylie's hair and of course take some pictures before her first day. We were all set to walk out the door until I looked at Emily and realized I totally forgot to get her dressed. Whoops, sorry child... So I scrambled to get some clothes on her and threw the girls in the car, sped up to campus, called Mike to meet us there to see Kylie off on the first day.

We got there and the gate was locked (meaning we were late!) So we had to run around the side of the building, down the hall, and come into the classroom from the backside...

Sorry, Kylie, welcome to the rest of your life. Your mother is never on time and as long as she's taking you places, you will probably always be late too...

This is my favorite picture of the whole day.

The great thing about having Kylie in the BYU Preschool is that they have an observation booth for parents and university students to observe the children. It's behind a two-way mirror so the kids don't know we're watching and it's great for those parents that might have slight separation anxiety when dropping off their oldest children for their first day of preschool (ahem...) We stayed or just a little while and watched from the booth... You always wonder how your kids act and interact when you're not around; it was fun to watch her. She makes me so proud.

She did it! She had so much fun and wouldn't stop talking about how great it was when we picked her up. And every day since, it has become my favorite part of the day to pick her up and hear all about the fun things she learned and played. She's such a big girl and it kills me but I am loving every second of watching her grow up and become a little lady.

Also, she wanted me to add, "GO COUGARS!"

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