Two Week Check-Up

It is hard for me to believe that Mia Kate is already two weeks old! (The last 2 weeks of my pregnancy definitely did not go by this quickly!) She is such a little doll! All of her brothers and sisters adore her. She is such a great baby for us. She loves to be held and will sleep and sleep, as long as she is in loving arms. She has been a great nurser and by her weight today it seems she is getting enough to eat. The recovery was very easy with her, too. As far as weight loss-- I always wonder how after the baby is born it is possible to lose less weight than what the baby weighed. My first day home I decided to weigh myself and shouldn't have been surprised to see a total loss of 5 lbs. Two weeks later I am down 20 lbs. --which would be GREAT if I only gained the average 20-25 lbs. but no ... I still have another 30 lbs. to go! It is so fun to have Mia in our family. I just wish I could slow down time! Instead I will just have to try and cherish each moment with her and all my other little munchkins!

Two Weeks Old

She had a perfect exam today!

Weight 8lb. 11 oz (60%)

Height 20 3/4 " (62%)

Head 14" (36%)

Block of Wood

Busy, busy, busy! That seems to be the feeling in our home right now. It just feels like there is not enough time to get done all that needs to be done with six kids. Like last week when I forgot there was no school on Friday and didn't study any Spelling Lists in time for the test on Thursday. Hadley brought her test home on Monday, a little sad, as she took it out of her backpack. "Mom, I am doing really bad at school!" I looked at her spelling test--8 correct out of 20 possible with some writing on it from her teacher, "Nice try, Hadley"! I hope her teacher, the piano teacher, the cub scout master, the carpool drivers, the bus driver, the school teachers, etc. all realize we just had a baby and life is still a little crazy around here. Hopefully we will be able to get our children to school on time again before summer arrives!

Well it was time for the annual Pinewood Derby last night. Gavin had been asking the boys to draw their designs on their cars for a few days but somehow nothing really got done on them and then it just got too late to do much with them or get them painted. Gavin showed the boys their cars right before he took them over to the cub master's house for the final weigh in. The boys LOVED their cars!! "Dad, those look awesome!!"

The cub master had fun calling Jack's and Ryan's car a "block of wood". i.e., "And the block of wood comes in 2nd place, once again!" Ryan's car ended up taking 4th place overall! Jack's did well but did not qualify for the finals.

Let it snow!

We had a snow-filled MLK holiday on Monday. We awoke to more than a foot of snow in the valley and in our yard. Unfortunately, I haven't done much playing in the snow with the kids this winter season and Griffin and Morgan hadn't played in the snow at all before yesterday. All the kids got on all their winter gear and ran outside to play. Griffin was left behind and watched from the window.

He finally escaped, unprepared for the winter conditions, bare feet and all. He was determined to try out this new concept so I found him some girl snow boots that were a little too big for him, mittens, coat and hat. He had the time of his life playing in the snow. I finally had to force him back into the house (kicking and screaming) for a bath when his hands and face were turning purple.

Everyone had a great time playing in the freshly fallen snow

Life goes on

The day after we brought Mia home from the hospital, all the kids decided to have a nice Sunday afternoon of painting and making different crafts downstairs.


This is what Gavin found when he went downstairs to check on how things were going. Apparently Morgan had found an ink pad for my scrapbook stamps and miraculously only got it on her. Gavin brought her upstairs and said, "Get the camera out. It may not be funny now, but hopefully it will be later."

The winning word

And the 5th grade Spelling Bee winner is...

We didn't have much time for Jack to practice his list of spelling words for the Spelling Bee this year with the birth of Mia. I checked the calendar on Monday and saw that the spelling bee was this Wednesday and told Jack he would only have a few nights to review his words. He commented, "Well, I guess there is always next year." Turns out he doesn't need next year-- he walked away a winner (after about ten words) with the word 'suppress'. Great Job, Jack!

The Arrival of Mia Kate Seal

Mia Kate Seal

It is so amazing to have this beautiful, little girl, Mia Kate in our home. It is going to be crazy with Griffin and Morgan and a newborn, but SO worth it!! It is easy to forget what a blessing a new baby is to the whole family and home. All of the kids are so excited to have a new sister to hold and to love! They anxiously await her naps to end so they can be the first to hold her. The newborn stage is so precious and I wasn't able to enjoy it very much with Griffin (COLIC!!) but am trying to enjoy every minute with Mia knowing I will never have a little newborn of my own again. We feel so grateful to have her in our family and with that gratitude comes an overwhelming comfort knowing that our family is complete!

First Haircut

Before the haircut

I have been putting off getting Griffin's haircut for about 6 months. At first it didn't get done because I didn't want to do it myself and never made an appointment. But then as time passed, he kept getting so many compliments on his cute curls and long hair that I decided to wait a little longer. Well it was ridiculously long and was looking more like my girl's hair than his brothers. So today was the big day --- We went to his Aunt Jill's and she cut it shorter but still left some length and curls. It always makes them looks so much older to me but I guess it is time for my little boy to become a big boy now that he is going to be a big brother soon. (Hopefully sooner than later!)

And, of course, the after shot...how cute is my little Griffers?!

Happy New Year!!

We had a New Year's Eve celebration at Brittany & Jamie's house this year. We first went out to dinner at a pizza place (which always seems challenging to do with Morgan and Griffin) and then to their home. We had a fun night with playing board games, singing Karaoke, letting the kids all go wild, eating lots of yummy appetizers (homemade California rolls, crackers with lots of different toppings, chips and salsa, and, of course, Martinelli's sparkling cider at midnight) and watching the ball drop in NYC.

I haven't had time to think about any new year's resolutions or set any new goals. My focus seems to be kind of narrow right now ... I am just trying to get through these next few weeks and not be pregnant anymore. Here's wishing everyone a very Happy 2008 from the Seals!

Jack and Ryan went to the Jazz game with grandma and grandpa and then joined us for the party after the game.

Morgan had fun playing with all the new toys at her cousins, Grace & Sarah

Jack and Ryan with Gavin

Hadley had fun banging pots and pans at midnight with her cousins Rilee and Grace. Even Griffin wanted in on the action and grabbed a pan and wanted to go outside with it in the freezing cold!