Liam's Baptism

We had a great day and a wonderful weekend. Thanks to all who came!

The boys have been a bit under the weather this week, so they have not been in the best of moods, but it was nice to see them playing together in a tent this morning!

Liam

Sorry, no picture today - I'll try to have one soon. But he is now 11 lbs 3 oz!! We had our last midwife appointment, and he has gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks. He now has chubby cheeks and little rolls on his legs. He's grown two inches since birth, and smiles a lot now. The midwife is very pleased with his progress, and she's quite excited to be a part of his birth, since she was there for Darren's as well. He's going to be baptized on Sunday (or as Evan says, "bath-tized" - which makes sense, because Pastor Ron Smeding really pours on the water!).

Evan remembered this morning that Uncle Adam was coming, so he and Darren had to wear their team Canada jerseys. Oma arrived with some pictures of the new little cousin - what a cutie!

Welcome Ayden James Trautrimas!

Evan, Darren and Liam would like to welcome their first cousin on the Renkema side - Ayden James Trautrimas. It took sixteen hours of labour for Ayden to get here, but that was so there would be enough time for Oma to drive the five plus hours to see him right away.

Congratulations Tante Brenda and Uncle Michael. We look forward to seeing him!

Hangin' out...

I was making supper in the kitchen, and the boys were playing so nicely and quietly in the living room. I came to see what they were doing, and they were "camping." Apparently it was very fun - they did this for about a half an hour - just lying on the floor and laughing!

Liam continues to grow and do well. He has his last follow-up appointment with the midwife tomorrow. As of last appointment, he was over 9 pounds, so I'm guessing he's closer to 10 or 11. You can see in his cheeks that he has filled out, and he almost has little fat rolls on his legs!! Our other boys never had that!! He is great during the day - not fussy, and naps a lot. His nights are getting better - often a stretch of 4-4.5 hours, but then about 2-3 hours after that. Not bad, though.

Waiting for Sesame Street. They sit very close together on the couch to watch. Evan is more interactive, answering the questions and laughing. Darren is just spellbound, especially by Elmo!

Other than that, things are going well. We are looking forward to Liam's baptism this Sunday. We will miss those of you who can't make it, and we're really looking forward to hearing some news about the boys' first cousin on the Renkema side! Come soon, baby!

Pictures - finally!

Darren doesn't take much interest in Liam except to give him toys occasionally. Today, though, he found Liam's hat and decided to help him wear it.

Bath time! This involves me standing at the sink and Evan & Darren standing on chairs on either side of me "helping."

Evan still loves to hold his brother.

Here's a few videos - hope they work. Liam isn't doing much yet, but the video is nicer than a still photo.




The boys like Liam's playpen - it has many uses!

Sorry, no pictures!

I've been here at the library with Evan for the past hour, doing email and waiting for the other computers to become available so I can post pictures. Unfortunately we can't spend all day waiting, so I can't post pictures of these adorable boys. They are all doing well though, and really enjoyed the weather yesterday! Eric, Evan & Darren were all out playing street hockey after we went for a walk. Liam continues to grow, and Evan continues to be the very proud big brother. I may try to post sometime this week (as long as these kids who are playing video games aren't here again!)

Life with Liam

We are all settling in pretty well here. The boys think Liam is just fascinating (though Darren was quite bored with holding his little brother - he'd rather climb into the bassinet). Liam has been doing quite well at night (often up just once...sometimes twice!). During the day he tends to sleep a lot, so I still have time to play with the boys, which works out well.
People ask me who he looks like - Eric or me, or one of the boys. I can't really tell, but when I look at pictures, I think he looks a lot like Evan. He certainly has the hair that Evan had - thick and blond!

Evan loves to hold him, and asks all day long if he can. He looks down at him and says over and over, "Hey, buddy. Hi buddy! How are you, buddy?"

Everyone is enjoying some "tummy time" - notice that everyone has thier own blankets. Our house is full of blankets these days. Liam needs them for swaddling and spit-ups. Darren needs one for naptime/bedtime. Evan needs one because everyone else has one.

This weekend I got together with a group of girls from Redeemer. We rented a hotel room in Toronto, and just visited and got caught up with eachother's lives. It was really nice. I took Liam along, and he was on his best behaviour (you can see his carseat next to me at the end). It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since most of us rented a cabin at "Sunny Point". We had promised to come back in 10 years, but a hotel sounded much more comfortable for 3 pregnant women and one newborn.

Welcome, Liam Josiah Renkema!

Born Tuesday, February 10 at 5:40 pm, weighing 7lbs 1 oz, 20 inches long.

I had a midwife appointment in the morning, and when she checked me out, she said that I was already six centimetres dilated (though not in labour yet). She said the little one would come within hours, or a day, most likely. I went home, put the boys down for naps, and had some contractions. I called Eric, who came home, and we had a neighbour watch the boys until our friends could come and pick them up for a few days.

We met the midwife at Cobourg hospital just after 3pm. I still wasn't having very strong contractions, but we would rather have the baby in the hospital than in the car! Good thing, too, because 2.5 hours later, he was born! As soon as he was born, they put him on me - didn't weigh him or take him away until 90 minutes later - it was so neat. Especially since our first two birth experiences were just the oppposite. The midwives were wonderful, and the hospital was beautiful - it's only a few years old. I had a private room with my own bathroom/shower (even though we had no insurance coverage for that).

The boys are meeting their brother for the first time - look at Darren's face! Although, the hospital bed became much more interesting than this little thing that didn't do anything. They stayed with our friends David, Lisa & Job for two nights and had a great time there. Now that everyone is home, it's taking a bit of settling in, but we're doing well. We're looking forward to some visitors over the next few days, and Eric is off work until sometime next week.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern. We feel so blessed!