Katelyn turns 3!!

Katelyn turned 3 last week. We had a joint birthday party with her friend Caelyn, who turned 3 the week before. It was a lot of fun at a local park cooking hamburgers and hot dogs and playing on the playground. We had a princess cake and piñata as well as some arts and crafts for the kids to do. The girls had a blast with the glitter glue and beads!! :)

On her birthday, we went to one of her favorite restaurants and had a nice dinner, with a birthday sundae for dessert.

She is now 39 ½ inches tall and weighs in at 32 ½ pounds. She loves to play Candyland (especially her new Dora version) and Memory. She still enjoys listening to music and dancing in her room and is singing songs almost all the time, especially to Matthew when he is upset or as we go through the supermarket.

Matthew is 4 Months Old!!!

We can hardly believe that 4 months ago today Matthew joined our family. It seems like it was just last month. He is getting bigger every day. He now weighs in at 16lbs 15oz and is 25 1/2 inches long. He is very chatty every evening and loves to watch Katelyn whenever she is within sight. He is also reaching for anything he can get his hands on, especially his sister's hair. She likes to get really close when talking to him, and he is getting better every day at holding her there. :)

He eats so much that we started him on solid foods a little over a week ago. He has taken to the rice cereal very well. As you can see, Katelyn loves to help feed him. We usually take turns, with her dictating who goes next. ;) He will start veggies this week. Here's hoping he likes them as much as Katie did.

Summer Fun '09

Katelyn and her friend Caelyn went to the county fair over the weekend. They got to see lots of animals, eat ice cream and go on some really fun rides. She really loved the dragon roller coaster!!

Katelyn has also started to go to the local pool on really hot days. She is getting braver with each visit and will now lay back accross our arms with her head back in the water. She has been practicing her kicking in the tub every time she takes a bath. She delights in seeing us get wet from her efforts. :)

Katelyn got to go to their first movie this summer, too. We went with Caelyn to see "Up". It was a lot of fun and they were both very good in the theatre, keeping their 3-D glasses on the whole time, even when the seats tried to eat them up.

They Grow Up So Fast....

Matthew is 6 weeks old now and growing more and more each day. He had a check up on Monday and is already 12 pounds 2 oz and 23 inches long. He holds his head up and looks around all the time now and is starting to get the hang of tummy time. He is also spending more and more time awake the last few days, checking out the world around him the whole time.


Katelyn is doing great with potty training. She has not had any accidents in 2 weeks and always tells us when she needs to go. She has started playing "Dora the Explorer" in the car on the way home. Dora is her favorite show. She especially likes to play out being Swiper the Fox and swiping our stuff, like the character in the show does. She then tells the story of what we have to do in order to get our stuff back, just like Dora does in each episode. It has been really neat to see her imagination grow along with her ability to tell the story.


Katelyn is also still loving being the big sister. She bring Matthew his passy, covers him with his blankets, helps with giving him baths and holds him at least once a day. She also likes to sing him songs and it is her job to calm him down if he gets fussy in the car. She does a great job with that. He enjoys looking at her from his bouncy seats and sticks his tongue out at her when she gets in his face. She needs to be careful, though, because Matthew tends to spit up a lot and if she gets too close just after he eats, she gets a surprise. ;)

Introducing Matthew Peter Thomas Spear!!!

I started having contractions on Friday, March 13th, around 6:15 am. They were about 6-7 minutes apart at that point. As I have been having contraction flurries for months now, we were not sure if it was worth going into the hospital or not but around 7:30, just as Jeremy and Katelyn were about ready to leave, we decided it would be better to play it safe and go get checked out. On the way, they began to come every 3 minutes and were getting more intense.

When we arrived at the hospital they brought us to a room and hooked me up to the monitors. I was doing ok but the baby had a few heart rate drops during the contractions and they were showing no sign of slowing down. After about 30 minutes, they decided to consult the doctor, who was in surgery, and get his opinion. We started calling people to let them know it was possible the baby was coming.

They finally got word from the doctor around 10:15 that we should deliver.....at 11:00!!! I was in shock that it would be happening that fast. No one was there to watch Katelyn yet and we did not have anything with us. I did not feel at all ready but the decision had been made. Grandad arrived at about 10:40 am and called Grandma to have her come too. Katelyn did not like the way Jeremy looked in the scrubs he had to wear and was very upset when we had to leave the room to head off to surgery. She calmed down once Grandma showed up and started to get a bit excited about seeing the baby.

Matthew was born at 11:44 am. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 and 1/4 inches long. He was very loud and kicked a great deal, throughout the delivery and after, just as he had since the 18th week of the pregnancy. :) Katelyn's initial reaction when she saw him was to go up to the bassinet and ask to hold him right then and there. When the nurse told her she needed to give him a bath, Katelyn quickly volunteered to help out with it.

We are home now and adjusting to our new family dynamics. Katelyn LOVES to be helpful and hold her baby brother every chance she gets. She has started feeding her babies 'Mommy Milk' just like I feed Matthew, and she can't wait until it will be her turn to feed him his first bottle in a week or so.