First tummy time!!

We put Asher on his tummy for the first time today. I think this is the soonest we have done it with any of the kids. I think with the girls, we hesitated a litle more due to having it just be ingrained that babies should sleep on their backs. But really, if they are supervised during the day, there is no reason why they can't have tummy time within days of birth. Although there are no pictures, Asher's sisters were very interested in his tummy time too. They were very eager to help him and play with him, much to the chagrin of their parents. I think he really liked his tummy time; he didn't fuss, but mainly went straight to fist-chewing!

Asher snuggling his bear

Baby shower!

One week after Asher was born, there was a shower thrown for us by Asher's Grandma Kathy. He received many useful and cute things.

Family dinner at the hospital

Everyone crowded around the tiny table in the room to have dinner. The only ones missing are Asher and Mama. She's the one taking the picture!

Caught in the act!

Alannah looks as if she has been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time! Who's crib is that?!

A very special gift...from Ember to Asher

As soon as Emberlea heard that the baby in her mama's tummy was going to be a boy, she set aside a car and a truck that she had in her

toybox in a gift bag for her brother. When she came to the hospital to meet him, she brought her special present and gave it to him to play with. It was a very heartfelt gift and I am certain he appreciated it very much. Her mama and daddy thought it was the sweetest gift ever that a sister could have given her new baby brother!

More faces of Asher!

Asher's other visitors

Asher had several other visitors at the hospital the day he was born. Several others wanted to come, but weren't able to make it for various reasons. They were worried that they had missed something by not seeing the baby immediately after birth, but we assured them. When they asked what he looked like, our response was, "Well, he looks like a baby." (albeit a cute one!) Some may say this is a flippant response, but babies do look like babies, right? This comes from being around the environment of babies and couples at the hospital to give birth. Working on the mother/baby floor for some years now, I have often wondered why other people feel such a need to see a baby so soon after birth. I say, give the poor parents a break and wait a week. For one thing, the baby won't remember who was there to see him/her right after birth, and with babies all looking like babies (as babies do), they wouldn't be missing much to wait just a little! It is important to close relatives, I understand, but to various friends and acquaintances? I would say this is not such a priority. I have seen countless visitors descend on some wretchedly tired couple with a new baby hours after the birth like vultures; eager to be a part of the show. Their eyes tell that they are way too tired for all the visitors, and et they cannot bring themselves to send them away. I have told these couples in the past that it's ok to send people away, and it's ok to tell them to come back at a more convenient time or to visit them at home.I really feel for them... But anyway, fortunately we did not experience anything of this kind. Our visitors were welcome and encouraged to come!

Asher meets his sisters!

As expected, Emberlea and Alannah were anxious to meet their new baby brother. Ember got to hold him and Alannah got to briefly look at him from Daddy or Grandma's arms.

Delivery team

Dr. Jenny Tufariello delivered Asher as well as Emberlea and Ethan. She is very sweet and a good doctor who has taken great care of me and the kids throughout each pregnancy. She didn't get to deliver Alannah as she was not on-call when I went into labor, but one of her partners, Dr. Matt Haugen, who also happened to be the one to do my tubal ligation surgery that followed on Sunday, February 22nd, delivered Alannah. He is also very competent and helpful.

The coming of Asher!

Asher came at 13:32 on February 21, 2009 and he weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21inches long. He seems so tiny still for such a big boy! Although his sisters had dark hair when they were born, he has lighter hair, bordering on blond. He wanted to nurse right away, and so he did.

Anticipation of Asher

Here are the faces of somewhat anxious parents waiting to meet their son for the first time. We had a scheduled induction on February 21st, due to some complications with the pregnancy, at 39 weeks gestation. Amazingly, they turned us away from the hospital when we showed up at 6AM on that Saturday, because they were full. There had been so many women show up in the middle of the night who were in active labor, that they didn't have enough nurses on call to go around! SO we were bumped back to 8 AM...much to our frustration! But we were shown to a room when we showed up yet again and a nurse was found for us. A pitocin drip was started at about 9:10AM and almost 4 1/2 hours later, we welcomed Asher Nicholas Orr into the world!

Some Emberlea moments at home...

Emberlea is learning more and more these days. She is getting to be quite the speller of 3 letter words. She constantly asks us how to spell everyday items around the house or things she thinks of in the moment. Then she immediately goes to her "Word Whammer" (Leap Frog brand toy for learning words) and tries to spell it out with the magnetized letters on the refrigerator. Additionally, she is excited to go to Kindergarten in the Fall and is very proud of her progress with words. She is also a great little helper, including washing dishes, of all things! She actually enjoys it and jumps at the chance to do it. Her latest prayers at bedtime include asking God for very specific dreams, which always makes us chuckle a little. Currently, she asks him to make her a "Who" to be able to play with Jo-Jo, the "Who-boy" from the Movie Horton Hears a Who! Her biggest news is that she recently lost her first tooth; and when I say lost, I really mean it.

She has no idea where it went and claims that she didn't swallow it (although we have our doubts).

Some Alannah moments at home...

Alannah is a very busy toddler. She has become quite the climber. We are now having to tell her not to jump on the couch and not try to stand on the windowsill or crawl on the coffee table. Of course, her big sister is not exactly the best example in this department, so these lessons are somewhat lost on her so far, but hopefully she will soon learn! One of her favorite things now is to climb on the recliner ottoman rocker and "body surf", while saying, "Whee,whee,whee!" This is not something her sister taught her, however; she learned this one all on her own!

1. Christmas Eve at the Larabee grandparents'

Christmas Eve, we went to the grandparents' house as we do every other year. It's always a fun, family time with decent food and treats! It was good to catch up with cousins, aunts, and uncles to find out what they have been doing; since we don't see them all that often. Of course, it's a "zoo" these days with our girls at Christmas. It seems whenever we are out at some one's house, we wear ourselves out chasing the two of them around the house and making sure they don't break anything or hurt themselves. Thank goodness for present opening time so they can focus in on one activity!

2. Christmas Eve at the Larabee grandparents'

Christmas Family picture

Snowfall!

One day in December, we woke up to snow on the ground. Emberlea had fun making snow angels and throwing snow at the fence! Uncharacteristically for this state, the snow stayed around for a while and the folks who don't know how to drive in it, were less than thrilled. However, Nick and I got to have a random day off from work due to the snow, which was a welcome one-day, impromptu vacation.