March Madness - Our New Family

I don't know about you, but I was exhausted just organizing the pictures for this blog post. Somehow, we all survived our first month as a family of 5 (mostly because of family helpers)! Nana and Zayde were here the first half of March. Aunt Sandi came for Spring Break next. And then Daddy went back to work, and I had a couple of weeks to figure out what to do about that.

Settling in:

Nikki's ready for her bris party.

Daddy THINKS he's in charge of the sleeping baby, but really, Maggie's got this.


At Spencer's 2 week check up, he already weighed 7 lb 11oz (19%). The faces of a 12-day old baby:

Being that March was Spencer's first full month, you can expect that there be several other firsts as well.

first stroller walk... #success

first tummy time... #failure

We also had Spencer's first tub bath. Unsure about it at first, he figured out pretty quickly that he didn't like it.


Everyone survived. (theme of the month)

Big Boy Ethan also had a BIG first this month. We decided it was time to give baby Spencer the baby crib, and that big brother could sleep in his big bed. He was so excited and fell right asleep! He didn't quite know how to use the bed and stayed on his back at first, unsure of how to roll over. He'd stand up and cry when he was ready for us, just as he had in the crib. He also woke up one night screaming "My banket not wuhking!!!" when he couldn't figure out how to pull the blankets back on top of him. He was a bed pro by the end of the month.

He was pretty proud of himself when he found out it was ACTUALLY happening.

SUCCESS!

Then Ethan helped Daddy take the crib apart and bring it to Spencer's room.


Then, Purim arrived mid-March. Nana and Zayde were still with us to participate with the holiday fun.

At night, Zayde, Aunt Syssa, Spencer and I headed out to shul for the Megillah reading, dressed in style.

calm 2-week-old pre-festivities

said 2-week-old at festivities

that time a brass band showed up at the Megillah reading

In the morning, we head back to shul for the Purim Carnival.

Ethan dressed as a fireman, and Gabi dressed as a doctor...(for at least a few minutes...)

Before saying goodbye to Nana and Zayde, we had to make sure to celebrate Nana's upcoming 29th birthday. We began with ice cream cake.

helpers

Ethan and Joey are glad to celebrate Nana's birthday.

To continue the Nana celebration, we went to dinner at a local cat cafe...because Nana likes keeping Austin weird. Gabi, in particular, LOVED it!

This was Gabi's special friend throughout the evening.

Having been INCREDIBLY grateful to our helpers - getting us started as a family of 5 - their stay with us came to an end, and we were on our own.

making a fort in Gabi's room

With our month of firsts, Mommy started pumping, and Ethan and Gabi got to help with Spencer's first bottle.


And THEN, I lost all my help when Jon went back to work. I had to face reality sometime, I suppose.

rocking my first night alone with 3 kids

what it looks like most afternoons when both boys are done napping at the same time

Dairy Queen had Free Cone Day, and thus, I had incentive to survive my first outing with 3 kiddos.

Being that we live in Texas, March is a great time to start backyard water play!


On March 24, little Spencer was already a month old. I have a feeling time isn't going to slow down any time soon, but that sure went by quickly. So far, he's a sweet baby who just needs a gentle pat on the tush to settle. He's a good eater and makes some really good grunt noises.

20 Seconds of Spencer (While the swing is not such a success, you at least got a little tease of his grunting.)

Ethan Robert turned 2.5 in March. At his well check appointment, he measured at 3' (63%) and weighed 31lb (63%). He's quite the cutie who loves singing and dancing:


Gabi also had a well check this month for her 4-year-old self. This big girl measured 3'8" (99%) and weighed 50lb 4oz (98%). Here she is before Rodeo Day at her school.

Another day, another bottle:

(I'll be honest. At the end of organizing this post on sleep-deprivation, I stopped having the mental capacity to choose between cute and cuter so you get them all.)

We may have 4-year-old drama, 2-year-old toddlerhood, and newborn nonsense all happening simultaneously, but somehow, we have survived this month. I assume we will continue to do so. We may have more people and more spit up and more laundry, but if my blog can help it, I'll have tons of happy memories to look back on in the meantime.