Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was special this year for a few reasons:

This was Lance's first year to take Valentines to school! He was pretty excited to put them together.

I saw this cute idea online and decided to copy it. I found some little foam airplanes online for a good deal, so we attached on to each Valentine. Lance liked being able to pick which airplane each person received.

When Lance came home from school, this was waiting on the table for him and Jude.

The boys got Valentines from Grandma and Aunt Amy and also from their friends here in Family Housing. They thought it was pretty special.

Since Cole was born only 6 days earlier, George and I had agreed to celebrate Valentine's Day another time by going out to a favorite restaurant of ours, so I thought I was in the clear. Apparently George had other plans. I didn't even have a card for him and what did he do?

 

First, he made us an amazing homemade dinner.

Pine-nut encrusted halibut over cauliflower mash with broccolini and home-made Bearnaise sauce. Incredible!

Then we finished the dinner with a low-carb tiramisu cake George made from scratch. (He's on a low- to no-carb diet right now.)

Lance took this picture of us. :) Thanks, Lance!

He even got me a gift! I felt so loved that he took the time to make it a special day, even though we are still planning to celebrate another time. I am the luckiest girl! 

I love you, George Glass. Thank you for being so good to me. I couldn't ask for a better husband!

Thank goodness for Grandma!

The title says it all... I don't know what I would have done without my mom after I delivered. She found subs for work and Seminary, left her husband up in Ashburn and took an entire week out of her life to devote to taking care of me and my family after I had Cole.

It was amazing! I got to sleep in, I didn't wash any dishes or cook any meals. She played with Jude and endured hours upon hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I could nap during the day and made sure everyone was fed and happy. I think my recovery was fairly quick, thanks entirely to my mom and her help.

Bathtime with Grandma. It was a special treat for the boys because Grandma made sure to put in extra bubbles. :)

Cole liked to hang out and listen to the boys splashing in the water. He's spending more time awake which is a lot of fun.

Lance showing off his reading and spelling skills.

Jude doing one of his favorite things and helping Grandma wash the dishes. I think not washing the dishes was one of my favorite things about that week, second only to getting some extra sleep in the mornings.

I didn't get a picture of it, but the Monday after I delivered I had to walk Rockne, the black lab we walk every week, because George was working. Mom came along and pushed Jude in the stroller while I packed Cole in a carrier. It was fun to walk with my mom and it was great I had the extra help!

Thank you, Mom, for taking such good care of us. It meant so much that you took time out of your busy life to care for me and my family. I don't know what I would have done without you!

Coming home and visitors

While we were in the hospital, we had several visitors come by.

George's parents came up February 8th (birth day) to say hello and meet Cole. I wish I had been thinking and took a better picture, but I wasn't really thinking.

Melissa and Aric (our neighbors) came by later that day, too. They even brought a gift for Cole and some snacks for me!

My friend Rachel also visited the following day and brought a sweet gift, but again I wasn't thinking and don't have a picture.

We wanted a 24-hour discharge, but because I'm O+ and Cole is A+, we had to stay a little longer to make sure he didn't develop too much jaundice. Thankfully, Cole's numbers were within a reasonable range and we were given the "go-ahead" in the late afternoon on the 9th.

Daddy dressing Cole to go home. Cole wasn't a huge fan.

He settled down pretty quick once in his car seat.

Ready to go home!

We made it home in time for a wonderful dinner made by my mom. Jude was there and excited to greet our new little baby. Lance was picked up earlier that day from school by his dad for his regular weekend visitation, so he wasn't there. :( I miss him so much when he's not here!

Jude is a great big brother! He loves to hug Cole and will give him his pacifier when he cries. It's very sweet. Jude has such a tender heart.

So many people were wonderful to remember us and we were the recipients of several gifts--homemade burpclothes, diapers, cute outfits, and even gifts for Lance and Jude.

George's Emergency Medicine "mentor" sent us an edible bouquet which was fabulous! The fruit was amazing and Jude thought the little bear piggybank was the neatest thing ever. It now has a permanent home next to his bed and is constantly being emptied and filled with whatever coins he can find.

The Elmers gave us a beautiful flower arrangement when they came to the hospital (on the left). Lance picked out the flowers on the right with Grandma and they brought them to the hospital when they visited. This picture was taken a few days later (which is why the look a little wilted). We felt very special!

Saturday (Feb. 11th) both sides of our family came down to meet little Cole. Our little house was quite busy!

Pop Pop holding grand-baby #5.

Grandmom and Cole.

Uncle Nate.

Uncle Nate and Aunt Jen.

The entire Glass family (minus Lance who was still at his dad's house).

About an hour after the Glasses left, my family came arrived.

Aunt Amy, Aunt Laura, and Uncle Jason.

(Side note: see the hat Amy is wearing? She makes and sells them, so if you're interested in a cute hat, let me know!)

Aunt Amy, Aunt Laura, and Grandma.

Uncle Jason.

Grandma and Grandpa. This is grand-baby #4 for them.

The Allred side of the family--missing Uncle Chad and Uncle Stephen, and Laura's husband Uncle Tyler.


What was Lance doing while everyone was visiting in Charlottesville?

He went on a 9-mile bike ride with his dad! This picture was taken by Scott on the bike path as it crossed over the 495. That's a LONG ride for a 6-year-old! Good job, Lance!


My mom drove up to Ashburn with the rest of the family Saturday night so she could wash my laundry (wonderful, right?) and then pick up Lance the next day to bring back down for me so I didn't have to drive. It was awesome.

Lance was excited to hold baby Cole again.

He and his dad even picked out a cute puppy to give to him!

Sweet boys.

The three brothers with their matching puppies, thanks to Lance and his dad.

Cole, you are a lucky baby to come into this world with so many people that love you! I can't wait to really start this new phase of life with you. It just keeps getting better and better!

A family of five

February 8th, the day Cole was born, the boys got to meet their new little brother!

My mom brought them by in the evening with some beautiful flowers Lance picked out and we got to spend about an hour together enjoying being a family of five.

The boys were both excited to see Cole. Lance even wanted to hold him, which was a little surprising because he didn't want to hold Jude when he was a baby.

Happy family!

Jude kept trying to love on his little head and was constantly "petting" him. It was really cute.

The nurses were saying that Cole looked just like Jude when they came in and I noticed that it seemed to bother Lance. When I asked him about it, he said, "I wish he looked like me." Nearly broke my heart. When I told Lance that I thought Cole had his nose and that he was long and skinny like Lance was when he was a baby, he seemed to feel better. Poor Lance.

Jude liked to give Cole kisses.

The boys were hungry, so we broke out the extra piece of pizza I had left over from my dinner and the boys got to eat it on the cool bed that moved up and down when they pushed the buttons. 

I showed the boys pictures of the delivery...

...Jude was concerned when he saw Cole covered in blood. Lance thought it was great!

Good big brother!

My three boys.

I love Jude's face here. This is what he looks like every time he looks at the baby.

We peeled him apart so the boys could see all his bits and pieces. We even changed his diaper and they got to see "baby poop" (meconium). For some reason it was a hit. Crazy boys!

Checking him out.

Sweet Lance loving on Cole.

It was a sweet experience to have all my family there and to be able to enjoy this special moment. The boys were great and were so excited about the new baby. 

I am so excited about starting this new chapter in our lives--a family of five!