Pictures and a Quick Update

Hey, everyone! I'm sure you've been checking in every day hoping for more pictures of my little family, right? Well, who am I to disappoint? Here goes:

Last day in the hospital and I'm feeling good enough to put on a little makeup. Not bad.

Ryder's going home outfit. I bought a girl one and a boy one, just to have my bases covered.
But I forgot to bring socks for the poor guy!

Bentley was so excited to have me home that he celebrated by wearing Craig's pajama pants.
I think it's a good look for him.

Kendra immediately followed suit. I like that her shirt sort of matches my pajamas!

I managed to get a picture of Ryder with both eyes open! Sorry it's a little dark-- I hated to use a flash.

Bentley reminisces about his days spent in that same carrier.

This week has been pretty good, although we're definitely suffering in the Sleep Department. It hasn't helped that Kendra was running a fever yesterday and kept waking up, and now Bentley has one, too. I guess it's nice that the entire family can be sleep deprived together, right? I'm just hoping all that stuff about breastfeeding giving babies some immunity to stuff like this is true. I can't think of anything much sadder than getting sick in your first week of life. Wish us luck there!

I managed to venture out of the house with all three kids today and go to my in-law's house for dinner. I was pretty proud of us all for getting there within an hour of when we said we'd be there. That's about how late we ran even before Ryder, so as far as I'm concerned, we're right on schedule.

Ryder is a typical newborn in that he sleeps a TON. And since he's my third kid, I now have enough parenting experience to enjoy this as much as possible. He's less typical in that he tends to have a bowel movement every fifteen minutes. It's kind of impressive, in a completely gross sort of way. I can never decide if it's better to let him sleep in a dirty diaper or if I should wake him up and change him. But when I need to wake him up during a feeding, this always works like a charm.

My favorite thing about him now, in addition to his tiny bit of hair, is the look he has on his face most times. Bentley used to give me this look that clearly said, "Do you have any idea what you're doing? Because I am not convinced." Ryder looks a little more stoic. He tends to let his eyes wander aimlessly around the room while pursing his lips slightly. The looks says to me, "Well, here I am. I guess. Try not to screw things up too much, okay?" (I am trying, buddy. Really, I am.)

As for me, I'm feeling pretty good, especially considering I'm only taking the occasional ibuprofen. If my life existed in the world of Harry Potter, I'd be making good use the reducto charm, if you know what I mean, but other than that life is good. I'm enjoying having help from so many people: Craig took most of this last week off to be with us all, my in-laws took care of the kids while I was in the hospital (and also cleaned, did laundry, and fixed things around the house-- I have all these cupboards that now magically close properly and a microwave that is so clean I almost didn't recognize it! I'm pretty sure my wonderful in-laws are the ones to thank for these small miracles). My sister also rushed down from Hershey-- with her two kids!-- before I could even get home from the hospital and helped out a ton-- she even thought to bring snack foods for my kids!-- and also kept my house remarkably clean, especially considering that while she was here, we had a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, a 5-month-old and a 3-day-old all under one roof. What an adventure! And now my Mom is here also slaving away for me. I think I may have forgotten how to do dishes. It's great! Thank you to ALL of you for all your love and support and plain old hard work!

Every so often I start to wonder how I'll manage three kids on my own next week when all the help is gone. That's when I start to panic. So I tell myself-- Scarlet O'Hara style-- to not worry about it until next week. I've got time to get it all sorted out, right? But for those of you with a handful of kids, any tips you want to suggest will be more than appreciated.

And while I'm soliciting advice, I'm curious: How long is one allowed to wear maternity clothes after giving birth before it's downright embarrassing? No particular reason, I'm just wondering. ;)