Afternoon at the Park

My blogging marathon is finally over- I'm caught up (for now). Yesterday we had our first outing as a family of four down at a new park in Kapolei. It was a good way to get out of the house for a couple of hours and have a dinner picnic. (The park isn't new, just new for us). Gavin got to run around and I walked a few laps around the very short walking path with Dylan. It was a good way to end the day and it meant no clean up at our house after dinner, which is always a plus!

Enjoying the cupcakes Aunty Monica made for us for dessert.

Gavin took this picture...

Dylan & Makenzie

Dylan and Makenzie Weida are exactly 5 weeks apart. This past Friday, Monica and I were finally able to get together to take a few pictures of the "Little Brother" and "Little Sister".

Dylan (2 weeks) & Makenzie (7 weeks) - basically the same size ;)

Gavin's First Field Trip

Gavin had his first field trip with his preschool this past Tuesday. They went to the Kapolei public library. Dylan and I came and met him there to help - we got there as they were coming off the bus. Seeing Gavin on a school bus with his classmates really made him seem like a big kid.

The time there was short - divided into 3 stations: story/song time with the librarian, time to read books from the kid section, and a craft station. It was the perfect amount of time for a room full of 3 and 4 year olds (not to mention for Dylan who I kept in the stroller and didn't want to have to take him out with a room full of preschoolers with runny noses and curious little hands ;)

Showing off his butterfly made at the craft station.

The video is one of those ones that someday Gavin would not want me to show ;) The kids were singing a song and saying something about skunks being stinky and Gavin took the chance to pick his nose while he had his hand up there!

Makaela's 3rd Birthday

Makaela celebrated her 3rd birthday on Sept. 18 (her birthday was Sept. 11) at the Honolulu Zoo - with a Dora and Diego theme. Gavin was really excited to go because the favor/craft for the party was to make a rescue pack. Of course, Gavin needs to wear his rescue pack over one shoulder like Diego does, which resulted in him loosing all the goodies in his pack. I don't think he minded since it was the rescue pack that he was the most interested in.

Dylan and I opted to stay home and relax since he was only 1 week old on the day of the party, so Gavin, Mark, Mamaw, and Papaw went to the party. Luckily, my mom took lots of pictures for me so I could see all the fun the kids had at the party.

Putting the finished rescue pack over one shoulder like Diego.

The kiddos decorating their packs

Matt and Zack

Dora and Diego front and center for the cake.

First outing with two kids...

While my parents were here, they went down to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to stay a few nights so last Friday (Sept. 17) I packed up Gavin and Dylan to take them down and spend the day. Gavin didn't have preschool that day and Mark was working, so it was my first time alone with the two kids... things went well - it only took me 4.5 hours to get out of the house ;) Once we got down there, we went for lunch and then spent the afternoon by the pool. Gavin swam in the pools with Mamaw and Papaw while Dylan and I found a shady spot to watch.

We even attempted dinner at the Japanese steakhouse, but about half way through dinner, Dylan decided he wasn't in the mood for Japanese. Luckily, I was able to walk back up to the room while my parents stayed and finished dinner with Gavin. Although it was a lot of work to leave the house, I would say it was a pretty successful "first out-ing" while playing the 2 on 1 defense ;)

Hanging out in the stroller...

In pajamas ready for the car ride home.

Gavin stayed the night down there and Mark picked him up the next morning.

Cuddling with Papaw the next morning

Waiting for Mark to come and pick everyone up. Notice the backpack? He wears it EVERYWHERE - it is his Rescue Pack just like Diego has (Diego is a cartoon character)

1st Doctor's Appointment

Dylan had his first doctors appointment when he was 4 days old (Sept. 14). He weighed in at 8 lbs- having already gained his birth weight back (he weighed about 7 lbs 11 oz when we left the hospital). His next appointment is Sept. 28- for as much as this guy eats, I'm guessing he has gained a few more ounces!

Gavin at his four-day appointment.

Who's Who?

Can you guess who is who? I am amazed at how much the boys look alike!

*First two are Dylan, last two are Gavin.

Brotherly Love

Gavin has been a great big brother! He really takes interest in Dylan- asking to see him every morning and wanting to hold him from time to time. Here are a few comments made by Mr. Gavin lately...

*One day Gavin asked me if we could take Dylan back to the hospital. (I thought it would be nice to go back myself...someone to bring me my meals 3 times a day, wash the dishes, fill my water anytime I need...)

*Being very curious about breastfeeding, Gavin has lots of questions - one day when my mom was still here and Dylan started to cry Gavin said "He probably wants to eat from your boobie." Today he said the same thing to Mark. And a few days ago, he asked if Dylan could eat from his boobie.

Feeding and burping the stuffed animal.

Dylan Stephen Buelow 9.10.10 8 lbs 20 inches

Dylan Stephen Buelow made his arrival in this world on September 10, 2010 at 7:36 pm, looking exactly like his big brother Gavin. The day started off very early for us- Mark and I had to be down at the hospital at 6 am to check into "Hotel Kapiolani" (the hospital). Once we got settled into our room and they were finished hooking me up to all the IV drips (fluids for hydration and to help keep my sugar levels in check and oxytocin (synthetic form of pictocin - the hormone that causes contractions during labor) we had the day to basically relax and wait for the show to start. When we got there, I was 2 cm dialated and by 5 pm I was only 3 cm. Around 5:30 the contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable, so we decided to get the epidural since we figured we still had a long night ahead of us. By 6 pm, the epidural was administered and it wasn't 2 minutes later that my water broke. At this point, I was only 4 cm dialated, so we still assumed we had a long time ahead of us. Over the next hour, I was feeling pretty strong contractions even with the epidural and assumed that it wasn't working well enough. Mark and I called the nurse in around 7 to let her know that the epidural wasn't working yet and when she checked me I was at 10 cm. (No wonder I felt the contractions, I went from 4 to 10 cm in 1 hour...with Gavin's birth this took about 12 hours). Needless to say, the nurses had just enough time to get everything set up and Dylan was born at 7:36 pm.

When Gavin was first born, my first reaction was that he looked like Mark...with Dylan the only person I could see was Gavin. We were (and still are) amazed at how much they look alike.

Getting his "stats" taken in the nursery

Our first family of four picture ;) This was a few minutes after Dylan's birth- Gavin came in to meet his brother. Of course, Gavin doesn't miss a beat- when he walked into the room, the first thing he said to me was "Mom, why aren't you wearing a shirt" and then when he peeked over to see Dylan (who was feeding) he asked, "Mom, where is his mouth?"

Melt my heart...

Saturday we were blessed with many visitors to meet Dylan. Here is our first group...Jenn, Zack, Katie, me, Mark, Heidi, Dylan, Lisa and Jackson.

The boys...

The day we left the hospital...I look tired! I guess a few days without full nights sleep will make you look that way!

Grandparents Day

September 10 was Grandparents Day at Gavin's school. The timing was perfect because my parents were here for Dylan's birth so they also got to celebrate the day with Gavin. Mark and I had to leave the house early (5am) that morning to head down to the hospital for our scheduled induction, so my parents got Gavin off to school then joined him later that morning for Grandparents Day. After school that day, they all headed down to the hospital just in time for Dylan's arrival.

Watching a little Sesame Street before school.

Notice he is wearing his "Greatest Big Brother" shirt...(yes, I planned that ;)

At Grandparents Day the kids and grandparents decorated a picture frame, got their picture taken together and had a pizza lunch.