Elliot Kenley Paxton

I'd like to introduce you to Elliot Kenley Paxton:

He was born April 5, 2012, at 5:24 pm.  He weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz, and was 22 in long.

My water broke around 8:30 am, but there weren't really any contractions.  I tried to get Oliver to take a picture with me before I left for the hospital, but this was the best we managed:


We arrived at the hospital around 10 because they wanted me to come in for monitoring.  I still wasn't having very many contractions:


We had a fabulous room, though, that overlooked the Rice track stadium.  We decided he'd have to be a runner like you, Tim Meier!

After confirming that Elliot was a-ok, the midwife suggested that I go for a walk to try to speed things up (as my contractions had basically stopped altogether), so I grabbed my Tom's and my iPhone and headed out the door... power-walking the halls with all my might, determined to meet this baby soon:

Around 2:30, the contractions finally started up again in earnest, and Elliot came less than three hours later.  Though less than three hours of real labor wasn't too bad, obviously, Elliot decided to stay sunny-side up the whole way.  I feared that might be an indication of his personality - you know, a "stick it to the man" kind of mentality...  But praise God, he's be the MOST agreeable kid EVER!  He did the requisite crying at birth, but then he calmed down and just took it all in:

He dazzled his big brother who announced, upon meeting him, "This my baby."

He captured Momma Joy's heart:


And Nana and Papa's:

He even got some time in Uncle John's arms:

What a blessing to have family around this time!

We were so thrilled to have made it to a family of four:

Large and Lovin' It...

I realized about a week before Elliot was born that I did not have a single picture of me pregnant with Elliot.  So, against my better judgment, I posed for a few pics to prove that he really was my kid.  Just don't make any snide remarks about my "watermelon" or "basketball" and we'll all be ok.

Now that I've posted these, I can actually introduce you to Elliot Kenley.  Next time, I promise. :)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Oliver had his first visit to the zoo back in January.  And then his second... and his third.  And yes, I am just now posting about it, so it has all been rolled into one post.  Sorry about that.  I was surprised the first time just how timid he was about it all.  Of course, we had just moved back to the US; he was sleeping in a strange place; there was construction going on at our house, and he didn't know any of the friends who accompanied us.  Not to mention the giant animals... but still!  He's so outgoing and fearless normally that I was surprised.

I sort of got a smile at the chimpanzee habitat:

And he showed some attention to the rhinos:

Whose habitat I discovered was sponsored by Chris' company.  Haha.

It wasn't until we hit the giraffes that he started warming up a bit, especially in response to Riley's wagon. He was a little disappointed in his own stroller by comparison:


Though Oliver wasn't too sure about the whole thing, I sure had a good time with my friends!!

Our second trip wasn't until after Elliot was born, and by mid-April, Oliver was much more ready to enjoy the zoo.  He boldly followed our 3-year-old neighbor and new friend Sophie:

He LOVED the monkeys (a word he had recently learned to say):

But even more enjoyed the giraffes and ostrich (weird, I know, but he's still talking about the ostrich over a month later!):

He was sure to inform me that the giraffes are tall:

And our third trip to the zoo (in which, yes, Oliver is wearing the same clothes... it was three weeks later and I forgot.  Sorry!) involved more people and therefore less opportunity to take pictures.  We did enjoy the "woooos" as Oliver calls them:

Especially the "baby wooo":

And this time, he discovered a giraffe statue, which he promptly approached for a conversation:

If we can stomach the heat, we intend to be back a lot this summer!  Oh, and to top it off, Elliot slept in the stroller the entire time.  Both trips.  Almost two hours each time.  I'm telling you, I don't know what to do with a baby that's so easy!  Such a foreign concept to me, but so appreciated!!!

In the meantime...

I keep saying (in my once-per-century posts) since we've moved back from Paris that a lot has been happening.  A LOT.  But you don't have to take my word for it...  I am going to (try to!) show you in picture form.  Here is my (yet again, I know) attempt to begin catching up on the blog.  And, since I know so many of my friends are interested in home design and decor, I thought you might like to see some of this.  If you're not one of those friends, just delete this one and come back when I return to posts about my adorable sons. :)

When we arrived back from Paris in December, we immediately began cleaning the "boy" (i.e. my 24-year-old brother and his two friends, our tenants while we were overseas) out of our home.  No offense, John, but it had to be done.  Then between Christmas and New Years, we remodeled the remaining two bathrooms in our 1950's home.  We had remodeled the tiny black and pink master bath (alas! no before pic...) just prior to leaving for Paris:

And though we had begun preparations for all three at that time, we could only fit in the one before our move, leaving us with two vanities (which I purchased in Round Top in April of 2009 and refinished myself) and two bowl sinks wasting away in our garage.  Finally, they were put to good use.

The hall bath, though our largest and the only one with a bath tub, was very difficult to photograph because it was long and skinny, but I did my best.  Here is the before:



And the after (which, I didn't realize until later, unfortunately doesn't include a picture of the vanity, which had carved claw feet and other cool details... bummer):

The "West Wing" bath (as we called it, since this suite was separated from the other bedrooms of the house and, as you probably guessed, on the west side) was the most neutral of the originals, but seriously in need of updating, nonetheless:



We ended up with some different things that I had originally thought I wanted (like the shower door and some more modern tile than I had imagined), but I was really pleased with the overall result:


The bead board echoes our choices in the kitchen (which we remodeled around 2007):

I also threw together a nursery for Oliver (with as little on the walls as possible since we were about to have to take it down anyway!):

And after a lot of cleaning and yard work and new insulation, we put the house on the market late January.  Thankfully, it sold quickly and we began our search for our new home... which is another story in itself.  More to come on that.

Playing Catch Up...

I was so proud of myself to finish the Christmas pics in March, then the silence fell.  So sorry about that!  Since that New Year's post, we have closed on two houses, remodeled and completely rewired our new home, moved, had a baby, and adjusted to life as a family of four.  Crazy.  Wonderful.  Crazy wonderful.

Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, let me share a few pics just to make you smile.  These are in no way representative of all my firstborn son has done, learned, and been in the last few months, but they at least are entertaining.  We begin in February with a very Happy Valentines' Day (and nothing says "Be mine" like wearing mom's galoshes, right?!?):

This wonderfully adaptable little man was such a hero throughout the process of showing and selling our house.  He loved his new crib so much that he decided one morning just to stay in there to play, thereby containing his mess - mom approved:

He also found ways to entertain himself without using any toys, like modeling daddy's head lamp:

I thought this was a precious moment with Daddy (even if it did involve giving my one-year-old ice cream):

He worked on his piano skills with Nana and Papa:

He modeled his bed head for mom (and YES, my child now has enough hair to warrant haircuts!  Incroyable!):



Oliver also was a pro when it came to moving (he's getting rather good at it).  On cleaning day (the day before the move), he got very excited about the muffin we shared in our new house:

But the real prize was the next day when the "big truck" showed up at our house:

A week later, Momma Joy arrived because Baby Elliot was due any day...  He then waited a week to actually appear, giving us some great play time with Momma Joy.  Unfortunately, I seem to have taken only video of them together, but I did catch Oliver coloring at dinner one night (a skill that Momma Joy was MUCH more successful in teaching him than I was!):

Since Elliot's birth (I promise pictures to come soon), Oliver has continued to steal time in front of my lens.  His bed head was particularly rockin' this morning (as were his facial lacerations... he'd taken a nose dive a few days before):


And I couldn't resist a pic of him wearing my head band one day:

And could anyone resist this cool dude?

I'm telling you, I don't know where this kid came from, but he is adorable!!!