Yesterday the Kellys were kind enough to bring us an excellent Mexican dinner of quesadillas, tamales and spicy salsa. It was the first time we’ve had dinner for eight, although the youngest two aren’t quite up to solid foods yet.
Afterward, we watch the Bears beat the Cowboys and posed all the little ones on the couch.
Eamonn’s eyes are aglow.
Not long after, James was swimming in snoozing kids. He didn’t make it to the end of the game without drifting off himself…
Lori’s mom was in town for a past week, which meant a lot of help–and a lot of fun! We have a ton of photos to go through, but here are some from a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Posing streamside. Is this a glamor shot or what?
Posing with mama on the hill.
Oma and Mathias go exploring.
Lori and Mary pose in front of the carillon.
Lori’s mom is visiting this week. In addition to plenty of help, she also brought these spooky PJs for her little pumpkins.
This past weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, we went into South Bend, not only to tailgate with Uncle Mike before the Notre Dame-Michigan game, but also to see James’ mom and her boyfriend Michael Bennett get married!
The wedding only came onto our radar on Friday, going from idea to “I do” in just a couple days. But it was beautiful, with a sweet bride and groom. We’re very happy for them and wish them a wonderful lifetime together.
The bride and groom saying “I do.”
After that, we had plenty of tailgate fun. Lots of James’ aunts, uncles and cousins were there, and Lori’s mom is also visiting us from Florida, so she was there too!
James and Lillian at her first tailgate!
Aunt Sara, Mathias and Lori warm up inside Uncle Mike’s RV.
Oma and Mathias blow bubbles.
Eamonn and Mathias playing in the field. Looking forward to updates of this one over the next two decades.
Things are going well as we adjust to our family of four. Lillian is a big sleeper–a better sleeper than Mathias, honestly–so we’re not totally sleep deprived, even if our shuteye has taken a hit. Of course Lori’s the one getting up for those midnight feedings, so she may disagree.
Here’s a shot of Lillian stuffed to her chubby cheeks with milk.
And here’s Mathias ignoring his PBJ in favor of whatever’s on tv at the time.
Last week Papa (James’ dad) came in for an evening to meet Lillian and bring us an excellent dinner. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with him, and as you can see from this photo, Mathias was super-excited to see him!
James took the past week off work, so we were able to enjoy settling in as a family. Thankfully, it’s been a little easier than we would have thought. Lillian is a big sleeper, especially at night, so there are fewer 1 a.m. (then 3 a.m., then 5 a.m.) wakeups than there were with Mathias. On his end, Mathias has been a champ. He does his best to share the space and attention and even try to entertain his little sister with toys and animal noises.
Here are are a few photos from the past week.
Lillian gets her first sponge bath.
She doesn’t like it very much!
Mathias rediscovers his old play mat.
He shared it with Lillian.
She looks ready to pass out during tummy time.
Lillian went in for her first doctor’s appointment today, and all was well. She’s putting on weight, which is welcome, although she’s a bit of a skinny minnie compared to her brother!
On Saturday, September 1, our family grew to four with the birth of Lillian Elfriede Seidler. The little lady is named after two of our grandmothers: Lillian Fahey was James’ maternal grandmother, and Elfriede Mathias was Lori’s. They were both wonderful ladies.
As is the newest member of the family! Of course, while she’s since proven herself to be pretty mellow, she had to kick things off with tears at the official weigh in.
Lori and Lillian stayed in the hospital until Monday while James went home nights to help out his mom, who did an awesome job watching Mathias all weekend. We really appreciate her help!
This hospital stay seemed easier than the first one. Lillian was born at 10:28 a.m., which really helped normalize the day. We’d had to be there at 1:30 in the morning for Lori to be induced for Mathias’ arrival. We ended up being awake for more than 24 hours, which left us with a big sleep deficit with our little guy. (Of course, the fact that we had some clue what we were doing this time may have helped too.)
All is well at home, and we hope to have more updates soon. Some hospital photos are below–see them all by clicking here!
Lori holds Lillian for the first time.
Grandma holds Lillian at the hospital.
The family heads home!
It’s been a very fun—and busy—summer with friends and family visiting, weddings, college graduations and one little lady on the way. This past week gave us the chance to hang out at home some. Here are some snapshots from our domestic scene.
Just another Wednesday…
Mathias works on his first masterpiece. It’s now hanging from his bedroom door.
The most exciting thing to happen in Mathias’ world lately is the discovery of a bag of James’ old role-playing dice from high school. He loves to “play numbers,” rolling the different faces to see what turns up. Here’s a video of him and James going head to head this weekend (soon after James woke up, as you can see from the jammy pants).
Lori’s mom and her uncle Bobe were in town for the past couple weeks, which were great. There were a bunch of highlights to share, but near the top was a trip last weekend to Milwaukee’s Germanfest.
Lori’s family has been going to Germanfest for decades, but this year, in addition to her Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Guido, we were joined by James’ dad, brother and sister. It was a lot of fun, with plenty of steins of beer, polka music and even a pig’s head! (James and Mathias decided to check out the playground while the carnivores set to work.)
Mathias was unnerved when the pig head made its appearance from beneath the foil.
Lori und her little schnitzel.
Mathias got plenty of playtime in.
Cheers to more fun next year!
