Best Cole picture thus far.

Sheryl took this while we were at the playground enjoying the beautifully cool (ish) weather.

It's my favorite photo of him yet.

Cole's first week

Happy 1 week birthday, Cole!

It's been a rough week.  And really the only reason it's been so rough is because both Lena and James came down with Croup like the second that Cole was born.  Literally.the.second.he.was.born.  Ugh.  I hate Croup.  So yes, dealing with the 2 of them while they're sick has been reaaaallly difficult.  Cole's been super easy!  I mean that of course could change at any time but thus far he's easy.  Here's some pictures of his first week:

And here's one of James playing in Cole's carseat.

Baby #3

So I had a baby yesterday.  Ain't no thang, no biggie, whatevs.  

Cole Harper Roth was born 12 days early at 7lbs 5oz and 19.75 inches long.  My earliest, heaviest, shortest, and final baby. :-)  He was born via VBAC even though I had had a Csection scheduled for the 25th.  We got to the hospital though and he had none of the heart-rate issues the other 2 had during labor and once I had an epidural I really felt ok with the progression of labor.  So aside from the first few hours pre-epidural and stuck in the triage unit (won't mention that there was any crying involved on my part) and the last 30 seconds of horribleness actually birthing the baby, I had a really good labor that I felt really in control of, so yay!  Go Penn Midwives, go baby Cole, GO ME!

and now I get to go home TOMORROW!

Lena said "Wow, he even has more hair then baby Beck does!" upon first sight. hah!

here's some more pictures:

Whew.  done.  What an ordeal.  Thanks for showing up early, little guy!

3 years old!

So now Lena's 3.  She's so old!!!!!!!!  And so funny.  And we had a tiny little birthday party for her on Sunday at a nearby playground because that was all that 10-months-pregnant me could handle.   Lena and James plus 6 other little friends played balloon games, parachute games (borrowed one from Logan Hope, thank you!)  sang Happy Birthday, ate cupcakes, and that's about it.  Outside it was about 108 degrees more or less and with the 200% humidity it felt like 208 degrees so the hour and a half was just about all anyone of us could stand to be outside.  But it went great and she had a blast.  Here are some pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAN!!!

vacation and a false alarm or two

We just got back from the fabulous Adirondaks.  So nice. So relaxing.  And then one night I was in labor for hours and we almost woke the kids up, threw them in the car, and drove an hour to the nearest hospital. But it turns out that I was just dehydrated.  Whew.  And then I got the flu and broke my toe but these things happen, am I right?!?!?!?  All kidding aside (although all the issues above are not exagerated) it was a great week away.  The kids had a blast for sure.  Enjoy these shots my mom got!

The best part of this shot is Lena in the background playing with one of her many new friends.  Any kid that was down there suddenly became her playmate.  She had sooooo much fun.