One Week

Wow. How fast time flies. It has already been one week since Liam made his arrival. Today, Graeme tried to pick up Liam for the first time. Luckily, we were right there to help him hold his little brother and have a very sweet moment.

It has been such a great week. We were able to come home pretty quickly. It was so awesome to be back with Graeme and to start family life. Graeme has started showing more and more interest in the little person who is apparently not going to be going anywhere anytime soon. Liam is still only interested in food and sleep, but it won't be long before he is ready to play!

Bring on week 2!

My Little Mini

Well, after 19 and 1/2 months of living with a little guy who shows no signs of looking like his mother AT ALL, I now have one that does! William Dewitt, we call him Liam, looks like his mommy. He has a head of dark hair and looks like he will also have dark eyes, but we will have to wait and see. The way that his hair lays and has a natural part, he looks like his hair is styled and he is ready to be on the cover of GQ baby. I keep telling Mike that I'm going to have to find him a little suit onesie to wear.

Graeme has been a great big brother. He has been playing and having pretty normal days

thanks to his wonderful Aunt Leanna. He has come to visit us each day, but has shown little interest in his little brother. At this point, he found the cabinets and buttons of the hospital room much more interesting. Now that we have come home and invaded the house, Graeme has taken a greater interest in Liam. He thinks that his little brother must always have a pacifier in his mouth. He is also learning about being gentle and what is okay around Liam.

We are blessed! Mike and I look forward to many "hale-raising" adventures with our little minis!

Graeme's Last Day as an Only Child

It is now less than 24 hours before the arrival of baby brother (please no delays, Lord). While Graeme really doesn't know that his life is about to change, it is. He will be big brother tomorrow!!! It seems like he was just a baby, but now he is a big guy. He crawled up into his big bed all by himself and slept through the night last night. When I went in this morning, he was playing with one of his trains all by himself. Trying to really enjoy this last day with just him, Mike and I took him on a walk around the neighborhood even though it was a little misty with rain. Then we played climb in and out of the dryer while Mommy tried to switch one last batch of laundry over. The big box in the hallway has been great for hide and seek! Now, we are playing and having snacks and will soon have nap time. What a great little fella and we can't wait to add another hopefully much like him!

Triathlete in Training

Graeme apparently wants to grow up to be a triathlete. After nap and lunch, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. After saying hi to daddy in his new office, we went and watered the garden which led to us filling up the pool. We took of socks, shoes and pants and Graeme began the first part of his triathlon training. He would lay down in the pool on his belly and move around the pool (followed of course by standing, splashing and being cute and silly :-)

He evens knows the correct order to train in as he next climbed out of his pool and moved right for the bike! He still can't quite reach the pedals and ends up moving backward rather than forward, but he was off. He pushed himself around the yard for a bit and was then ready for the next part . . . the run!

He is great at running around the backyard and exploring everything. Admittedly, he didn't quite stick to the training for hours and hours and he didn't quite hit the distances for each leg of the triathlon, but he has started his training and can only go forward from here!

After all this training, Graeme was a bit tired and so rested at the bottom of his slide.

All in all a great day of training!

Alphabet Hunt

Some friends of ours invited us on an Alphabet Hunt in downtown Raleigh. We had honestly hoped to miss it and be home with a newborn but since Liam is stubbornly staying inside, we decided to go out hunting. And we had a great adventure!

We started with a picnic dinner in the park with Marcie and Brantley (the organizers) and Brooke. Once we finished up eating and chatting, we all grabbed our cameras and our imaginations and headed out around downtown. Graeme got into the fun riding in the backpack carrier with Mike. He talked up a storm and was generally hysterical.

We looked at architecture, nature and everything around us for inspiration. There were definitely plenty of "o"s to be found, q was a reach, but we enjoyed tilting our heads and bending our brains to see what could be interpreted as a letter through the images we were taking.

Can you spot the letters in the pictures?

Yep, I spelled H A L E!

It was a lot of fun and we can't wait to see what else we can spell :-) On a side note, hoping the long walk also helps Liam make an arrival soon!

Patience is not my middle name

There are a few names that I have told my husband we absolutely will not use for a child's middle name, including patience. How cruel to be told when you have a bad moment-"Patience must not be your middle name". Well, my parents knew better than that for me too I guess. I am so ready to have my little boy arrive. My first thought when I wake up is "please let today be the day". My last thought before bed is "please let me wake up in labor". I'm not even truly near my due date yet, but was thoroughly spoiled by Graeme. He arrived just past 36 weeks and now I'm already halfway through week 37. Oh, well. The cheese was great with this morning's whine :-) and I can't wait to have my new baby (if you couldn't guess). God's timing is great and I will wait (if not with perfect patience).