Pre-Mother's Day

My mom spent the week with us to help me with the kids while Matt was off working way too much. Before leaving today we had a wonderful morning with a Mother's Day breakfast followed by a wonderful walk. Thank mom for everything you do and for a great week!

Surprises

An unexpected surprise from a group of second year medical students I taught. How sweet are they!

We Love Having a Real Yard!

Thanks to all the hard work to get rid of our jungle last year we finally have a real yard! It came to great use today when Lucas' friend Emma came over to play. Haley was oblivious to it all and enjoyed the warm afternoon air

Birdy Quotes

At dinner last night:
L: "When I is big, I'm going to be a prince and live with mommy and daddy."

Prince in his castle:

Quick Trip to Alabama

The kiddos and I took a quick trip to Birmingham and Huntsville this weekend. Matt had a long weekend on call so it was good for us to get out of town and see the families.

We went hiking in Moss Rock, played with friends at the playground, saw Jenny dance in Snow White, went to a great show at the circus, visited with our friend Kim who came all the way from Australia, and had some fun pool time.

Here's a iPhone unload from the weekend. :)

First Days at Home

Our baby girl has been home with us for about 2 weeks now and it has been wonderful. She's a wonderful baby and Lucas is still handling the big change like a champ. Matt is back at work and we are getting used to our new family life as a family of four.

First Family Photo

Rare Moment of Open Eyes

Our little "boy" (in Lucas' hand me downs)

Kiddos Together

Hi World

My Little Angel

Precious Cuddle Time with Both of My Favorite Kids

Not sure what to think of the world yet

Changing Table Time

Daddy Cuddles

Story Time

With her new Dragon Wubbanub

Naked Girl getting ready for her first Bath

First Hair Washing

Little Piggy

Which one is Haley and which one is Lucas? For anyone that has wondered whether our kids look alike. :)

A Sweet Big Brother after Bathtime

After their Baths

Welcome Haley Kate!

Haley Kate Israel was born on April 5, 2012 at 6:30 am. She weighted 7#8oz and was 21 inches long. She is beautiful and amazing and we are so thrilled that she's here.

She just barely avoided making a very dramatic entrance into this world. The labor and delivery went great except for a few "decels" (dips in the baby's heart rate that can sometimes be a sign of not enough oxygen being delivered to the baby). After Haley was born, we found out that she had a triple nuchal cord wrapped around her neck and that the placenta had been partially abrupted (torn off the uterine wall partially). Luckily she was born screaming and has done great, but we feel very lucky that things didn't go differently.

Lucas has been the best big brother! He loves "his baby" and loves on her non-stop. He's a big help to mommy and has so far done really well with sharing his parents.

First Kisses

All smiles for the camera when meeting little sis

My sweet family

The wonderful big brother

Mommy and Haley

The proud new daddy of two

More snuggles

First bow (it didn't last long)