10 on Tuesday- Week Two

1. Holly Moon turned 2 weeks old yesterday. With all of my boys a routine with some consistency set in at the 2 week point. And my daughter seems to have fallen in to a routine as well. She is still a great eater & remains a calm soul among our chaotic home of boys. For the 1st year of life I keep a scrapbook that contains a weekly photo so for this week I decided to take a photo of Holly sleeping on our front lawn since that is what she does ~ 15-16 hours a day. And last week she did a newborn photography shoot with Julie Rollins & if you click on her link you can see the sneak peek she posted. 2. These next 3 photos were taken prior to Holly's arrival. We had a playdate with the Laughrey girls. Kelsea & Johnnie still play really well together whether it's kicking a soccer ball around or coloring their faces with chalk like they did on this playdate. 3. Jimmy & Lorelei have been friends since Jimmy was 3 days old. Even though they aren't in the same daycare center anymore they still remember each other when we can get them together. 4. Joey still doesn't like to take photos with other kids except his brothers & his photo companion preference is always his daddy.5. And this is also an older photo. Holly is 2 days old & her new bestie, Whitney Laughrey is 6 weeks old.6. And Jimmy is still enjoying his baby sister.7. While Johnnie was swimming with our neighbor the other 3 kids & I spent some time enjoying the backyard sun. I love this photo because I'm usually the one taking all the photos so it's nice to just have some pictures of us being us on a lazy sunny summer day.8. There are a lot of changes in store for Johnnie. He is a big brother for the 3rd time. He starts his pre-Kindergarten program next week. And he starts his first organized sport activity, soccer in 3 weeks. So his daddy took him to get his cleats & shin guards & he has been very excitedly practicing every evening. And of course enjoying popsicles & the brain freeze that comes with it afterwards.9. Holly had her 1st bottle this week with daddy. After a little struggle she happily drank the entire thing. 10. My new favorite photo of my boys. They still fight us to get in the bath but once in the bath they have a GREAT time & don't want to get out. And in order to get them to enjoy washing their hair we make shark & fish fins. I love these boys.

1/2 Way Through Terrible Twos

Jimmy is now 2 1/2 years old. He is a little stinker. Our little mimic who is constantly repeating everything we say, or sing or yell. He is definitely our boy with the best sense of humor. He laughs out loud at cartoons & movies. He loves to copy Johnnie & wants to do whatever it is that he's doing. He & Joey create mischief together. When it's bedtime & we hear loud noises we always know we are going to find Jimmy in Joey's bed giggling & playing. And Holly has given him the chance to be a big brother. And he LOVES it & her. He wakes every morning looking for his sister & he comes through the front door every evening yelling "Where is Baby Holly?" Jimmy remains our biggest cuddlebug always wanting to be held & wanting to snuggle. He is very polite & uses his manners almost all the time. No matter what type of day we are having, Jimmy can always brighten our day. This last picture of him gives us big smiles. He came out of Rick's office/studio wearing these headphones. When I told him he looked like a DJ he kept walking around the house yelling DJ.

Happy 2 1/2 year birthday Jimmy! We love your little character, your always smiling face & just everything about you even when you test our patience.

Baby Holly is 1 Week Old

How can it be that a week has already gone by? Our beautiful little girl with daddy's fingers & mama's toes. Baby Holly is what the boys call her. So far she is a very calm & loving baby. She loves to be held which is a good thing since the boys are constantly asking to hold her any chance they get. She rarely cries. Not even during her first bath. I think she actually enjoyed it. She is a great eater. She loves to sleep. And last night she went 4 hours & 15 minutes between feedings. She has settled so easily into our lives & home & our world is so much better with her in it. Happy One Week Holly Moon! We all love you!

Going Home

After 4 sleepless nights in the hospital it was time to take our baby girl home. One last feeding, a going home weigh in of 6 pounds 7 ounces, a Newborn size baby pink going home outfit & some more photos & it was finally time.

Daddy hasn't been able to spend as many hours with Holly as he would like but in those few short hours he has completely fallen in love. I have been falling more in love with my newest bundle since December but being able to have my photo taken holding her puts a very big smile on my face. After wards a very kind volunteer rolled Holly & me down to the car to head home. She was buckled in to her car seat for the very 1st time & driven home to get settled into her new home to await the craziness known as the Bolander brothers to get home from school. Johnnie & Jimmy kept fighting over who got to hold her next but Joey happily waited till later in the evening to take his turn. Holly Moon completes our home. We now have a house that is FULL of noise, children, boys AND girls, happiness, chaos & more love than I could have ever wished for.

Meeting the Girl

Tonight Rick brought the boys by to meet their new baby sister. Right when they walked in the room I realized that I would no longer be the princess I once was to them any longer. It quickly became obvious to me that I would always be their mama but the girl that would now hold a special place in their heart is little Miss Holly Moon. And seeing their faces light up makes me so happy that I have been replaced. They adored her. They couldn't get enough of her. Joey hugged Holly & gave her a kiss but was more interested in playing with our iPhones. Johnnie wanted to hold her the entire time he was here. He wanted to hug her & pet her & just love on her. We weren't surprised because we expected Johnnie to adore his baby sister. But the surprise of the evening was how much interest Jimmy showed to the new baby in the house. He kept repeating "I hold Holly" over & over. And he wanted to give hugs & kisses. And when it was time to head home all the boys were very sad to hear that their little sister would be staying in the hospital. I was hugged & kissed to resounding calls of See you later mama. Like I said I think I have been replaced at least for now. And I couldn't be happier.

Our Baby Girl

This morning we took one last photo as a family of 5 & then headed off to the hospital all before 7am. All checked in & ready to go we just had to wait for the doctor's arrival. As you can see even when daddy is nervous he's still hilarious. At 9:25am I was taken into the surgery room to prep. By 9:40am the surgery started & by 9:50am our little girl Holly Moon Bolander loudly entered the world. I was wrong, all the nurses & the doctors were wrong because what we expected to be our biggest baby turned out to be our tiniest weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces & measuring 18.5 inches long. Daddy made sure to get our traditional welcome to the world photo of our newest addition screaming & then once you were all wrapped up we made sure to capture a photo of you with your proud parents. And then of course it was time to get a photo of Holly Moon with her loving family who will be fixtures in her daily life. Her birth has given daddy the opportunity to have himself a daddy's girl. Then Auntie Kimberly came by followed by grandpa & last but not least Auntie Kayci. We are all so happy to have her in our lives & can't wait to see her change daily. I look forward to everything about her & can't wait to see her meet her brothers tomorrow. Thank you baby girl for entering our lives & for giving us the opportunity to continue the memory of my mother with your middle name. She would have been very proud to see her name passed down to a beautiful baby girl. We love you sweetie! Welcome to our world!

One Last Night

It is 11pm right now & all of you are soundly asleep in your beds. When you wake up tomorrow morning your daddy & I will not be here but instead your Auntie Kim will be here to take care of you. I will be in the hospital waiting to have your baby sister. It was our last day as a family of 5. Our last day with only 3 boys in the home. And the last time I would be going to bed thinking about what a new baby will be like in our home.

Johnnie you are 4 years old (almost 5 as you like to point out) & this will be the 3rd time you are becoming a big brother. You are such a sensitive, caring, strong willed, loving little boy & I am so very excited to watch you help with your baby sister. You have been telling me for months how you will help take care of her & you have even been trying to pick out pink toys for her since all girls only like pink. Today you asked me how she would get out of my belly. I told you that the doctor takes her from my belly. And that was enough for you. You then decided that as soon as the doctor sees her arms she would grab hold & pull her out. Thankfully it's a little nicer than that. You also told me that you hope she likes like you since your brothers don't. Me too sweetie! Joey. What can I say about my 3 1/2 year old boy? You are quite possibly the most stubborn child I have ever met but one of the sweetest. The first time you became a big brother you were only 13 months old but now you know that there is going to be another baby. I wouldn't exactly say you're excited but you have been very loving to my belly. And I can't wait to see you with your baby sister. I love you Joe! Jimmy. My baby boy! You have been our little baby for 2 1/2 years now & tomorrow you will learn what it's like to be a big brother. On one hand I'm so sad that you won't be the baby in the house anymore but on the other hand I think you will be such a great big brother. So loving. So funny & just so excited to see the baby. Don't worry little one it won't be long now before you get to start being a big brother. I love you all so much. I look forward to watching you discover the differences between little boys & girls & I also look forward to discovering that myself. I have so enjoyed my house of boys. The energy, the sheer volume you create, the rough housing, the craziness & most of all just learning what it's like being the mama of all boys. I'm hoping you will welcome your baby sister with open arms & sure she will fit right in. I will never let you forget what it was like having your own home of just boys but I'm very excited to see the softer side (hopefully) of you boys with the addition of a little girl to our home.

Sleep tight my angels. We love you!

One Week Away

As of today I am one week away from giving birth to my 4th baby & we have been super busy getting ready but I have managed to take a few photos to share. We can rarely keep clothes on our boys anyway but when it's warm out we don't even bother trying. And during warm days they like to sit in the sun with sippy cups & a treat (Cheetos on this particular day) & they aren't too interested in cooperating with my camera. And tonight 2 of my boys wanted to be superheroes while one wanted to be his cute little self. Hopefully over the next 6 days I can manage to get some more photos to document our last few days as a family of 5.