Christmas

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone! It is hard to find time to publish on the blog...I'm doing my best though! Christmas was wonderful! We went to Las Vegas on 12-21-07 to see Karl's mom and Brad. It was a quick trip but we made the most of it! Jack was also in town and it was great to see him and have him meet Micah. We spent most of the time hanging out in the house with a couple trips to the park. Grandma and Grandpa Bennett gave the boys a wagon and we gave it a spin around the park. We drove home on Sunday. We were surprised the traffic was worse on Sunday then it was on Friday evening! The boys did great in the car. We got a portable DVD player so Matt watched Elmo and listened to music. That DVD player is a lifesaver on long car trips! This was the first time we used it and it was a success!
We went to church on Christmas Eve. We went to the 7:00pm service to hear my brother play in the bell choir. Matt and Micah were tired so all of us spent the majority of the service in the nursery! My parents, brother, and sister's family came to our house on Christmas morning where we opened gifts. My mom made a wonderful Christmas dinner which everyone enjoyed in shifts between feeding, bathing and taking care of the kids! Overall it was a wonderful holiday week and we are lucky to have been able to spend time with so much family.
My brother will be playing in the Rose Parade on New Year's day morning. Louise and Jon offered to babysit so Karl and I can go see the parade. I am excited because last year when Clark was in it I stayed home with Matt. I am really hoping babysitting goes smoothly for Louise and Jon. Micah is not being cooperative with the bottle despite trying one everyday. Micah loves to cuddle with mom!
Happy New Year to everyone!!
Congratulations to Bryson and Emily on finding out they are being blessed with a little girl!

Merry Christmas

I'm a little teapot!

Santa

We took the boys to see Santa on Saturday. Matt did very good. We said hi and waved to Santa first then Karl took him up to sit on his lap. Matt turned to Karl and said "Daddy hug" so Karl hugged Matt. Then we asked Matt to hug Santa. He wasn't into that! Santa gave Matt a cool Elmo book. It is amazing how Santa knows exactly what characters Matt likes. We saw Santa at the Micheal's distribution warehouse. An odd place for Santa to show up but we have a friend who works there and Santa came to see employee's family and friends. At first I wasn't too excited to have Santa hold Micah, but he asked and how could I say no to Santa!
We just go back from the mall where we got Micah's picture taken. Bad time to have a picture done! We were there for 3 hours! I almost made the appointment during the week and would have taken the boys myself. That would have been a disaster! Micah did great for his photo shoot. We got some really good ones. We have cute pictures of Matt when he was about 3 months old naked with us holding him. We wanted similar ones of Micah although they no longer allow naked pictures of babies. The photographer was really nice and let us pose one though...Micah peed all over! We now understand why they no longer allow naked pics!!

G'pa and G'ma Stutelberg's Visit

We had a great weekend with Tom and Andra. They were only here Friday afternoon through Monday morning, but it was wonderful to have them. It took Matt a few minutes to warm up, but he soon realized he had a new audience and took full advantage! Most of the weekend was spent at home playing with the kids. Grandpa and Grandma got some good cuddling and playing with both boys. We made it to the park a couple times and took a nice walk. When Micah is a bit older we will do the whole So Cal tour! Micah has stared to show off his cute toothless grin! A full smile is coming soon!!
We plan to take Matt to see Santa this weekend. We looked at Santa when we were at the mall earlier this week and Matt said hi and waved. I am curious to see what he will do when we tell him to sit on Santa's lap!
I hope everyone is having a good week. Good luck with the Christmas shopping!

Pictures of Micah

Micah is now 4 weeks old. The time has really flown by! We all are doing well besides some minor colds. Both boys have been a little congested the past few days but seem to be doing better. Matt helped me put lights on our Christmas tree this morning. To quote him it is a "pretty Christmas tree." Micah is becoming more and more alert. These pictures were taken tonight of Micah. Matt was already in bed. The first picture was from last weekend. We went to a birthday party for two boys I met through the mom's group we belong to. Matt and I have become good friends with the mom and her twin boys who just turned 2. It is fun to watch how the kids interact and I like getting Matt around other kids his age.
Tom and Andra fly in tomorrow. We are anxious to see them and I know they are excited to see Matt and meet Micah. Have a good weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We spent the holiday with the Cranes, Fitchs, Grandma, Ray and Carrell. It was a great meal and special to spend time with family. Much thanks to Grandma and Mo for all the cooking! Matt wasn't too into the meal and only ate a piece of bread. I suppose he is thankful for bread though! I think the table full of people and food was a bit too much for him because he was not into sitting and eating with us! Everyone took turns taking Matt outside to feed treats to the cat, Penny, and pick the left over tomatoes from the garden. After Matt went to bed we saw Ray and Carrell's pictures from the month they traveled around Thailand. Seeing those pictures has given me the travel bug again...but it will be a long time before that is possible!
Micah has been spoiled the past couple days. He was held and cuddled constantly. Just what he needs! Grandma calls him her little doll and loved cuddling with him when he was sleeping. He slept through most of his first Thanksgiving.

Pete Has Big Feet by David Hollaway

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Micah's first well check

Micah saw the doctor today for his 2 week well check. He is growing well and doing all the things a little 2 week old boy should do! He has gained a pound and is now 8lb 9oz and is 21" long!
Such a big guy! Matt is still adjusting well. He loves to "help" mom and dad with anything and everything. He now wants to "help" take out the trash, do laundry, and get me things when I am feeding Micah.
I took this picture because I don't know how many opportunities I will have to capture the boys playing with the same toy and not fighting over it!

Week One

Micah is now over one week old. It is hard to believe! We are all adjusting well. Matt has been having a few more tantrums and behaviors lately but I suppose that is to be expected. It must be hard to suddenly not have mom give you 100% of her attention! Other than being tired we are all doing good. Micah has his next doctor visit on Thursday. I am anxious to see how much he weighs. Not too much news here. We have been mostly staying home. We try to get Matt out to the park or to my parents house everyday so he doesn't go crazy! I may try to venture out more in another week. I loaded up both boys myself on Sat while Karl was at work and spent the morning at my parents house. It only took me a little over an hour to get out of the house! We had a little photo shoot today with Micah for a birth announcement photo. Hopefully we can get them in the mail in a few days.
Luke got his helmet off and started sitting last week. He was 6 months old on the 3rd. Now his Pooh Bear gets to wear the helmet. It is nice to be able to kiss his head now! What a handsome boy!

Matt's fall photo shoot

Happy Autumn! Love Matthew

Micah and Andi come home!

With the time change last night we got an extra hour of sleep...not really. Well we got Andi and Micah home safely today. It has been a different experience this time being able to take our baby home right away. Micah and Andi are recovering well and glad to be home. We bought Matt a little tikes kitchen to play with to keep him busy. He is not that interested in Micah but can say his name and likes to point out his nose, eyes and mouth. It is nice to have the family home. Now the fun begins.

Day number two

Day Two - Micah and Andi are doing great. Micah has been nursing well and doing what new babys do best: eat, poop, and sleep. Grandma and Grandpa Bennett got here today and got to meet Micah then took Matt to a wild cat preserve with lynx, cougars, jaguars, and leopards. He loved the cats and had fun on Grandpas scooter. Matt got to hold Micah for the first time and he gave Micah a kiss on the head. We are hoping to have Micah and Andi home tomorrow. Keep visiting the blog for more pictures.
Karl

Video of Micah Day One

Our New Baby Boy

Micah Nickels Stutelberg was born today November 2, 2007 at 12:28am. He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 oz. and was 20in long. He is very alert and has already started nursing with mom. We are so happy to have a healthy baby boy. See pictures below.
Written on little sleep,
Karl

Micah Nickels Stutelberg!

Still Waiting!!!

I keep putting off writing in hopes the next post would be about a new little boy! My due date is on Tues 10/30. No signs of labor yet though...this kid is very content where he is! I am afraid we may have had our only chance 5 weeks ago!
Matt was sick last week. The poor guy had a fever for 4 days and felt pretty awful. I took him to the doctor last Monday and he had ear infections in both ears. He has been on antibiotics and is doing 100% better. He has another check up with the doctor tomorrow and I am sure everything is cleared up.
We had a busy weekend with family visiting. Erin came from Denver on Thursday and Jeanette and Jack drove from Vegas on Friday. Everyone left this morning. The trips were planned with hopes of meeting a new baby...so much for that! We had a great time though. Friday evening we went to Clark's school and saw his last high school football game field show. They sounded great and I can't wait to see the show more at some of their competitions in December. We went to Apollo Park on Sat. morning then to a Halloween party put on by the City of Palmdale in the afternoon. The party was too old for Matt, but it gave us an excuse to dress him up. He is a bear this year. I will post pictures after Halloween of him in his costume because he wasn't in a very good mood for the pictures we took at the party.
We all had a great time with everyone here. It was really nice to have a distraction this weekend other than obsessing when this baby is going to come! I suppose everyone will have to come visit again in the near future to meet Micah. I see the doctor tomorrow...keep your fingers crossed that maybe something is progressing!

Waiting....

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. Hopefully the video in the previous post will make up for it! I kept putting off writing thinking we would be able to introduce our new family member soon. I am coming to the realization I may be pregnant forever. I never thought I would make it to almost 38 weeks. Hopefully this means Micah will be a big and healthy baby. I was on bed rest the week following discharge from the hospital. Our family rotated coming to help with Matt. Thank you Thank you Thank you!! I have been up and very active the past week. Matt and I have been going for walks, shopping, Mommy and Me class, and to the park. The picture posted is probably our last family picture with only 3 faces! Take care everyone and hopefully we will have exciting news in the near future. Think labor inducing thoughts!!

Matt at the Park

The Hospital

Tues morning, 9/25, I started having contractions. My sister came over and watched Matt while my mom took me to the hospital. Karl works a few miles from the hospital and met us there. I was reluctant to go at first but am glad I did because I was in labor. I was at 35 weeks...too early! My doctor initially wanted to let me go into labor but after telling him about our history with Matt he decided to give me medication to stop it. I was in the hospital for a week and just got home today. I am still on bed rest for another week but it is nice to be home. Karl and I feel very fortunate to have made it to 36 weeks and are viewing each additional day as bonus!
The hardest part for me was being away from Matt. I had never spent a night away from him. Karl brought him by often and we laid in bed together and watched Signing Time movies, played peek a boo with the curtain, spun him around on the doctor's stool and let him hide in the closet in the room. There is only so much in a hospital room to safely entertain an 18 month old!
I was on IV Magnesium for the first 24 hours. This is is a great medication to stop labor as it worked but the side effects are pretty nasty. I felt like I had the flu. I was weaned off the Magnesium and onto a pill which I took every 6 hours and has less side effects. I was given an injection of this med when contractions started between doses of the pill. The protocol is to stop all meds at 36 weeks so I was sent home today without any meds. So far I feel great! I'm still on bed rest so my parents and Louise are all taking shifts watching Matt. They think I will go into labor again any minute...Karl and I think ironically I will probably go past 41 weeks now!! We will see. Micah was 5 lbs 9 oz in an ultrasound done on Wed 9/26 in the hospital.
Karl got to spend a boys weekend with Matt. They went running, to the park, got haircuts and ran lots of errands. Take care everyone and maybe the next post will be about a new little boy!

Mr. T

Matt is really into bubbles in his bath. He laughs and thinks it is great when Karl puts them on his face and head. We think he looks like Mr. T in this picture. The other highlight this weeks is his new toothbrush. We got him an electric one with Ernie, Zoe and Cookie Monster on it. He loves to show it to anyone who comes over and name the characters on the brush!
The mom's group we are in started a music class every other week. We held the first class at our house and Matt really enjoyed it. Another girl in the group leads us in songs and activities. Matt stays fairly focused and attended for almost the full 45 minutes. We are still in the Mommy, Daddy and Me class twice a week. I signed Matt up again in October although depending when his brother arrives I don't know how many sessions we will attend.
I saw the perinatologist on Wednesday. Everything with Micah looks good and the MD told me he thinks everything is going to go great for us. Micah is a lot smaller than Matt. He was 4lb 12oz on Wed. when I was at 34 weeks. Matt weighed 5lb 14oz when he was born at 34 weeks. If Micah follows the books he should be gaining about 1/2 lb a week from now on. I am finding out the last month of pregnancy is a whole new ball game!!
Karl has been running with a local running group, High Desert Runners. They hold occasional weekend trail runs and weekly speed workouts on the track. This past week they ran a timed mile. Karl did pretty good and ran 5min 23sec. Matt and I usually go out to the track to cheer him on. Matt has fun taking Daddy water after he runs and chasing him when he runs by.
That is about all for the week. We had a great visit with Brad and Jeanette when they stopped by for dinner on Monday night. They were on their way to a memorial service and were able to stop by for a short visit. Hopefully they will be able to stay and visit longer soon. We have settled in nicely in CA although we miss our family and friends in Vegas and that is hard.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking with my parents today in Tehachapi. It is about a 45 minute drive from Lancaster. Apple picking was a lot less messy than cherry picking! Matt figured it out right away. His favorite apple was a shriveled up half rotten one he found on the ground. He carried the awful apple around all afternoon! After picking apples we drove to another farm and picked raspberrys. Fortunately he lost the yucky apple at the raspberry farm. Matt LOVES berrys! He was eating them faster then we could pick them...so he gave up on us and started picking and eating his own! We then went out to lunch before heading home. The restaurant was in front of the train tracks and Matt enjoyed watching the train from the window. When we left another train started coming so Karl covered Matt's ears and we all got excited for it. Poor Matt freaked out when it went by and blew the whistle. I guess they are not so cool up close and loud! He recovered fast and kept signing and saying train all the way home! Hundreds of energy creating windmills are located on the hills around Tehachapi. Matt loved these and signed and called them fans. We are all exhausted! I have some apple sauce cooking in the crock pot which will be good for breakfast tomorrow! Tomorrow Brad and Jeanette are stopping by for dinner on their way to a memorial service on Tues so I think I will attempt an apple pie.
Saturday Luke got his band. Yesterday and today are trial days where he wears it for 3 hours then off for 1 hour to check for redness and pressure points. Since he has had it off occasionally it gave Louise a chance to decorate it! I don't think Jon and Louise ever imagined they would have a little football player!
That is all for now...I see the perinatologist on Wed. I am curious as to how much Micah weighs because I am just about at the point when Matt was born. I have a feeling Micah is smaller...we will see.

Luke's Casting

Luke had the casting done for his DOC band last week. Louise said he was a champ! She fed him a bottle during most of it. He only cried and got upset toward the end. Fortunately a new clinic has been started on Sat mornings in Pasadena so they won't have to travel to San Diego every week. Luke gets his band this Sat and they will take him back weekly to have it shaved and shaped. Hopefully he will only have to wear it 6 weeks then he will have a beautifully shaped head! Although, I don't think anyone would argue he is adorable the way he is now!
Karl, Matt and I are doing great. No real exciting news. Matt got new shoes last week. He has a cool pair of Vans now! In the future we will have to plan on getting his new shoes at the Stride Rite outlet when we are in Vegas. He takes after his daddy and has big feet! He has a book called "Pete has Big Feet" which has been a hit the past couple of days! Matt is saying new words everyday. His latest ones are okay, zebra, nana (banana), and please.
Karl started a per diem job at A.V. Healthcare which is a skilled nursing facility. He works there on Tues. afternoons and a couple Sat. a month. The plan is to work there until the new year when hopefully I will be able to work a little.
That is the latest from here for now. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Karl and the Trolley!

Saturday evening Karl was a wonderful brother in law and volunteered to drive the tractor trolley at the fair. Clark gets a discount on the year band fees if he gets volunteers to drive 2 trolley shifts. My mom was supposed to drive Friday night but lucked out and due to a mix up in scheduling 4 people showed up to drive so she got out of it. She has put in her time in the past years though! It must be a "guy thing" because Karl said it was fun! Karl drove the tractor from the parking area to the fair entrance and back. He only knocked over 1 cone! My brother was a conductor. After the evening of work the two went into the fair and shared a fried Twinkie and fried Oreo...again another "guy thing!"
We purchased a toddler bed at the Salvation Army and are very proud of the purchase. After some cleaning it looks like a new bed. Matt loves his bed and took a great 2 hour nap in it right after we set it up in his room. We decided to let him nap in it when he wants and sleep in the crib at night. It is a good thing we have awhile before we need the crib because the past 2 days he won't sleep in bed and only wants to "play sleep." He keeps getting out of bed at nap time and playing in his room until we put him in the crib. We are not worried, if Matt can't make the transition to the bed yet we will just have to look at the Salvation Army for another crib!!
Karl and I finally saw Harry Potter this afternoon. My dad and brother came to watch Matt. Good movie but a lot was left out or not covered completely. Overall it was good...how can you condense a 600+ page book into a 2 hour movie.
Hope everyone had a great long weekend!