Christmas/Adjusting to baby

Well, like I said, we got to go home on Christmas Eve. As much as I had prepared to have someone else play Santa while I was gone, I still wanted to do it so bad. We got home and my dad and his girlfriend had made us an awesome Christmas dinner! We were so thankful for that! They also gave us a breakfast casserole for the next morning. So awesome! We ate dinner and later that night the kids opened up their traditional gifts, ornaments and p.j.s. Rich's mom got them the pjs and she did a great job picking them out. They looked so cute and comfy! Each year they get a new ornament. I try to make it somehow represent something in their life from the current year, whether it's something they like, are good at or something new they've done. It is so hard to find good kid ornaments though! I looked everywhere this year. I finally got some at Kohl's. I got Julien an artist one, since he loves coloring and does it daily. I wanted to find him something that represented starting school, but couldn't find anything. Jonah got a Grinch ornament cause I couldn't find squat for him, but he still liked it cause he likes that movie.

hanging up their ornaments

Santa came! The kids were spoiled. I barely bought them anything because we had several packages from family and friends. We feel so blessed by the sacrifices and generosity of others.

I didn't get many pictures from Christmas morning. I was so tired! This year just didn't feel the same because I had just had the baby and was so sleep deprived and out of it. But I could tell the boys enjoyed it so that's all that matters!





















Later that night my dad and Carolyn and her mom came over and brought us dinner again! We are spoiled! The kids got some fun gifts from them; walkie-talkies which they are so cute with; Julien got new boxing gloves since his old one were thrashed; and Jonah got the blown up guy that they punch and he talks. Total boys stuff and they love it!

Adjusting to baby
I can't believe it's already been a week since Cooper was born. I can not even express how happy I am to have this baby! He is so precious and I can't get enough of him. The kids are adjusting well to him. They have been busy with Christmas toys and Daddy was home for a few days, and the past two days they've been at a friend's house. But they love their baby brother and are both very good with him. I'm sure they are frustrated with me that I am a lot busier with the baby around, but they seem to be quite happy about the baby. Julien loves holding him and Cooper is usually really content in Julien's arms. I caught Julien talking to Cooper while holding him the other day, and he was saying the cutest stuff to him. Too bad I can't remember what he said, but I remember melting over it. Rich and I are adjusting pretty well too. Rich gets a lot more sleep than I do (lucky!), but he is still tired because he has picked up a lot of slack for me, which I SO appreciate. He loves Cooper so much and I love seeing him with a baby again. As for me, I'm doing pretty good if I've been able to sleep. At night my hormones go insane on me. I guess I have postpartum depression because I read up on it, and I have some of the symptoms. I'm not depressed about the baby whatsoever. I'm quite obsessed with him! I just have moments of being so overwhelmed and emotional. I have a really hard time asking people for help, even though I'm trying to get over that. My friend Carol has been awesome and has helped me so much when Rich isn't around. I also have a lot of guilt right now because I feel like I can't be as good of a mom to the older boys (at least for right now). I know it will get better and easier as we all adjust and most of all as I get more sleep! I know my hormones are to blame so I'm trying not to beat myself up too much. I just can't wait until I feel more normal. I'm just so tired. And I'm frustrated because I'm still having pain from my epidural and wishing I never got it. I guess I expected my body to heal faster than it has. BUT I love this little angel I've been given and I know pretty soon I will start to feel better and be able to take on these new challenges easier. I am trying to cherish every little moment though and even though it's hard at this phase, I'm in no rush to get out of it because I love tiny little newborns! I'm so amazed every time I look at Cooper and realize I finally have my baby and he is just so precious. Anyway, I'm fine, nothing to worry about. Once we get on a better sleep schedule and my body heals I will be great!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past week...

Love my family!