The Arrival of Baby Maddox

We had a great time preparing for little baby Vaughan's arrival. In the days prior, we spent lots of family time together.



The night before Heather went in for the scheduled C-section, we all sat around and reviewed the spreadsheet itenerary she had prepared for us. We were lucky enough to have an extra house guest. No not Lollie & GPops, although we were lucky to have them there too, but ROAN got to stay with us, so we had to know all about her busy schedule. To celebrate the coming day, we enjoyed some pink champagne left over from Thanksgiving (thanks to Andye & Gavin!)

The next morning, December 16, Lollie and I met Heather and Arwen at their house at 4:30AM! to head over to the hospital. I think Arwen was a little distracted or perhaps not awake yet. Here you can see he's wearing two different shoes. Silly Arwen!

And here my sister is preparing for the big (pun intended) event...



Scheduled C-sections seem like the way to go. Heather's appointment was at 7am, and the baby's birth time was 7:04! Surgery went without complication (whew!) and Heather was glad to not have labored this big boy -- 10 pounds, 3.4 ounces!

Heather was a champ throughout recovery in the hospital.

Here we are visiting her in the hospital.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (home), Roan was putting on a magical Winter Celebration at school. Since her mommy and daddy were busy at the hospital, Lollie, GPops and I got to go check it out. It was adorable! The class sang songs together and then had brunch. It was a really great experience to meet her teacher and classmates.

The next day, Roan got to play with Audrey all day (thanks again, Scott & Molly!) while Lollie and I shopped. By the time we got to the hospital, Roan was sacked out. The two Vaughan kids look pretty snuggly.

The next day Heather & Arwen brought Baby Maddox home.


But the fun didn't stop there!

Lollie and I took Roan to a puppet show (for big girls only!)

Here Roan & Lollie are making their very own puppets!

We also enjoyed some delicious dinners over at Sis's house.

And then it was time to prepare for the babies' first Christmas!

Where is the PAUSE button?

Tonight, he took his first succession of steps... one right after the other after the next. Micah and I were thrilled to be spending some family time together, so we both got to witness it! It should be noted his first steps were toward the loving arms of his daddy (the cutest thing ever to witness!)!! We'll try to get a video of him walking. In the meantime enjoy this shot of cousin Roan helping Logan, leading him around, trying to help him to find his footing. And just one day later, he did it allll by himself!

It seems our little man is just growing up so quickly. As you'll see from the pictures posted, all his teeth (he's up to 6 or 7 now) really change his look from baby to almost toddler.

Micah and I have really been enjoying this stage. So much so that I would prefer we stay here for a while. Too bad there's no pause button. This weekend we went to the community pool, where we all had quite a great time. Who could help but enjoy themselves to this little tyke figuring it all out, splashing about, holding on to the side, and giggling giggling giggling.

And here's some videos... (yes, this may've been the most over-documented moment ever, but we were having fun!)

The boys got to enjoy the last round of great weather at the free day at the Botanic Gardens.


They've also been hanging out at the free Aquarium playground. Here's a couple of candid shots Micah got.

Oh & how could I forget Halloween? Lolli came for a quick visit.

Grandma Carolyn sent the kids the most adorable holiday shirts.

And the cutest little monkey in town was hanging out all weekend!

Micah and I had a soiree. I went as a Gin (Jen) & Tonic with a splash of lime, and he was a flaming Dr.Pepper.


And look how adorable my sweet sister is!

Here's a couple more shots from the last couple of months. I really loved this one of the Long boys at the Science Museum, but I didn't download it off my phone for the last post.

And believe it or not, this was in no way associated with Halloween... just two wild & crazy guys...

NEWSFLASH:

Logan is really cute and getting cuter by the minute!


Ok, so it's not a newsflash, but it doesn't mean it isn't true.

He's getting to be so much fun. We can chase him while threatening "Mama's gonna get you" and he'll squeal with delight as he warp speed crawls away. The cutest is when "Daddy's gonna get you" and he crawls over to me to hide between my legs. So cute!

He also really like to show how awesome he is at peek a boo. Go ahead, just ask him "Where's Logan?" So cute!

He's also showing off his third (and almost also fourth) new tooth. Micah and I feel bad for the kid because between the two of us, our kids are destined to have those huge front teeth you only seem to grow into as you are graduating (COLLEGE!). Anyways, right now those two front teeth are just playing peek a boo with his lips, only showing themselves when he has one of those characteristic Logan smiles. So cute!

Watching this little man pick up a handful of tiny dried fruit, only to drop the ones that don't stick (from spit or food or whatever is already on his hands) so that one little piece of fruit dangles from a finger that he tries to carefully steer into his mouth, only to have that misguided and stick to his lip. but wait! as it loosens, it drops as though the food knows where to go better than Logan could guide anyhow but just then he catches it with the back of his hand & guides it in for final approach to the mouth. SUCCESS! Then, you get the pleasure of watching him gum it for eternity until it just dissolves. SO cute!

Um, what has happened to me? What has my life become? Can I seriously be so entertained by the mundane tasks of my child feeding himself? Is playing peek a boo seriously all the rage? I dunno, but I'd definitely say it was a Long time comin' (and I like it)!

So much to say, so few posts!

Sorry it's been a while... I don't know how in the world my sister has managed regular maintenance of her blog for going on three years now. (Well, now that she's moving, pregnant and chasing a toddler, even she is a wee bit behind in updates). Regardless, I keep thinking "oh I can't wait to add this to the blog" or "man, my mom is gonna flip if I don't update soon", but somehow at the end of a long day, sleep seems so much more enticing. Well NO MORE!

Let's see... where to begin... where did we leave off? Yes, Logan is crawling (like a mad man, in fact). He even started pulling up just in time for Grandy and Mimi's visit.

Their car problems became our blessing because their short trip ended up being a couple days longer while they had to wait for their van to be fixed. We enjoyed many great meals together. We also got to spend some time with Angela and the kids, which is always nice. It was really great having them here, and it made me wish Logan had his grandparents nearby.

We also celebrated Conrad's birthday. It was a great time to sit back and have a few. The sangria was divine (no hangover) and the keg was pumpin. All the while the kids were hopped up on the excitement (or was it the caramel apple lollipops?).

We celebrated McKinna's third birthday as well. Unfortunately, we were all having so much fun in the bouncy houses that no pictures were taken. I wish I would've gotten a few of Arwen and Micah drenched in sweat after bouncing off the walls... literally!

We got another great visitor; this time PeePaw came to town. Although we missed Grandma Marsha, we had a great time visiting with Hoyt. His visit had perfect timing -- free day at the Museum of Nature and Science. I had never been and was super excited to go. We asked the Vaughan's if Roan could join us, and lucky us she did!

October began Micah's full-time Daddy detail. We're only on one day a week at daycare to give Micah a bit of a break and to keep Logan chillin with kids his age. Every other day of the week is spent with his daddy. Here's a pic of them at the park.

And in this one, Roan is giving Logan a good push on the swings. We've been able to watch Roan more often lately, which has been great for us (and good for her parents to move to the new place)!

Today, Micah took Logan for his first hike. They went to ElDorado with Hunter.




And here's a couple of videos because well, I think my kid is cute and you might enjoy them as much as I do...