RoyalMom

Jason returned to work after three glorious weeks off. I managed to load up all four kids into the car for our weekly playdate with friends and then took Lotus with me to the monthly Bunco night, all in the same day!!!!

Before you get impressed by my awesome achievement, I suppose I should remind you that Jason works from home. He went out and got donuts and coffee for breakfast and held the baby during his lunch hour. Today he made all the kids lunch. Gawd, I am spoiled! I love my Sexypants.

Remember those homemade baby carriers? They are working out perfectly! I have the chic brown one in the car for public use and the other one in the house for hands-free whatever-i-want. Nice!

Knitting projects are piling up since I have all these changing ideas for baby gifts. It took me three tries to get the sizing right on this cabled hat pattern. By the time I finished three, my fingers were so sore I had to take a couple days off!

Now that my hands have recovered, I am thinking a different pattern is the one. <sigh>

Lotus models the hats for baby Icen, my sister's baby due next month.

Cabled hat...

I think I finally have the one: the gift wrap bonnet...

I made the next size up from the tiny one I made Lotus so it may be slightly roomy for Icen at the start. But, hey, it will last more than a week hopefully. Lotus had a 14.25" head at birth and all her baby hats seemed small. Who knew I was going to have such a robust baby?

Had to throw this pic in. hehe:)

Look at how cute he is at two...

And still my little cutie bug today, at 7...

Me and my mini-me. I *heart* him so much!

Grandma Louise snuggles Lotus. 100 years old and such a blessing to have her in our lives! It gets me all emotional thinking about it.

Grandpa Irwin <3

It has been such a treat having Isaac dote on the baby. He picks her up and keeps her happy when we need a moment to finish something. All the boys love her so much.

I had to snap a pic of the family eating out. No more getting away with the small booth for us!

We had an amazing turn out of friends and family for our New baby and Xander's birthday celebration! I think our house reached more than maximum capacity. haha!

Simon and Lotus chilling on the couch, waiting for guests to arrive...

My brother and sis-in-law, Aaron and Samantha brought their awesome popcorn popper. It was a huge hit! Not only tasted yummy but fun to watch the fresh popcorn spill out of the popper.

Xander and Lotus were showered with generosity. Look at all the friends! Being the craft man he is, Xander HAD to make himself a party hat for the occasion. Here he is with his hat on, opening gifts...

Cake time! Lotus had a pink cake with flowers (bottom of the pic)...

And Kelly surprised us with one of her amazing creations. We actually ended up with four cakes, much of it eaten!

I tell everyone Kelly makes it look so easy making baby girls, since she has five girls and one boy, and it took us four tries. Here we are with our baby girls, Lotus and Sarah:)...

The products of our last synchronized pregnancies: Hannah and Simon, looking cute as ever!

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing everyone! Thank you all so much for coming. We love you!

We hit the one month mark and the baby acne is in full force, along with the start of some random adorable baby smiles.

This is her nest on the couch, made up of two pillows and blankets. We decided to try not buying a single piece of baby equipment and see how it goes. I was curious to see what item we cave and buy first after she's here. So far we haven't bought anything, although a baby swing did slip into my mind momentarily.

It's, of course, exhausting to hold a baby all day and night but between Jason and I (and Isaac too!) and a few winks on the baby nest, we are managing it.

She seems to approve!

I was trying to spend a few minutes on the computer. The actual computer and not the iPod, so I could catch up the finances.

Lotus was placed, asleep, down on the floor on a blanket.

Maybe a full minute after, I look over to see this...

15 seconds later she realizes her situation and lets me know it is NOT okay with her!

30 seconds after picking her up she is asleep again.

Babies are so smart! They know where it's cozy. Now if I could just type with one hand.

Back to my iPod...

After passing around the sickies for a week, we needed some fresh air and to get out of town for a couple days.

Jason and I took the kids to Canon Beach and stayed at "our" hotel...the hotel we stayed at when Jason took me to the beach for the weekend he proposed to me. It's a great place right on the beach, with a nice pool. We found out this time around that it is also very kid-friendly!

Free movie rentals with popcorn brought to our room and a turn down service that includes treats found on the beds like sand toys and mini beach balls for the pool.

It was very relaxing and just what we needed!

Oh and by the way...it was warm enough for just a fleece and no hat. What can I say? I'm one of *those* moms.

Playing in the sea foam.

The sun was out and we loved lounging on the hotel deck!

The tub was enormous!

We had to get up early to catch haystack rock during low tide. It was foggy goodness!

Xander created his own puzzle and I thought it was pretty cool. It only took me a minute or so to complete because I'm awesome like that.

"I have a imaginary frand"

Friend Katy hooked me up with a stash of the next sized clothes for Lotus and included this adorable baby hat. Such a girly girl. ha!

We were at Target and a baby swing jumped into our cart! We lasted 6 weeks...that's pretty good, right?

I have to sneak in a pic of Isaac since he seems to elude the camera these days, which is the complete opposite of Xander who demands photos be taken of him and his creations, and Simon who just squeezes himself into photos regardless.

Isaac: my 9 year old, still a kid. He loaded pillows and a blanket into a laundry basket so he could watch TV from it. Yep, still a kid:) I love it!

Kristin made Lotus this sweet sweater. It's still a little big but I started putting it on her as an extra cover for outings. Isn't it gorgeous?! I had to snap a pic on our way back into the house.

I can't wait for a photo shoot of her wearing it at six months when she can sit up and it is a perfect fit.

She is also sporting another one of the hats from my favorite baby hat pattern, "the gift wrap bonnet." The same one she wore to the beach. I love it! It stays on and looks adorable.

Unfortunately this was the yarn Isaac picked out and it ended up fitting Xander better. He loves it and it is super cozy! I'll finish the second sweater and he and Simon can fight over them.

It will be back to the drawing board for something for Isaac.

By the way, Xan tried it on straight off the needles and then wore it to the park. ha!