Happy Spring

It's nice now that Spring is officially here. We have been enjoying the warmer weather (it's been up to 65 on some days already) and have even managed to make it out of the house this last week to go on some short walks. We loved the snow and the winter weather, but everything just seems to be a little easier when you don't have to worry about bundling up in 10 layers just to open the front door. The trees and plants aren't blooming yet, but it is nice to at least have the sun out.

We've been having an enjoyable past few weeks. Yes, it has been tiring with Christian waking up at least three times a night and Julia and Ethan still wanting to wake up at six, but we still feel we have very blessed lives. Grandma and Grandpa Little came to help out for a couple of weeks right after Christian was born, which really made life so much easier. On a couple of days they even took Julia and Ethan on day-trips, once to Palmyra and then to Niagara Falls (somehow they even managed to smuggle them across the border to Canada on that trip), allowing Rebecca and Christian to get some much needed extra rest. We all enjoyed their visit and all of the time we were able to spend with them; it has been kind of lonely way over here in New York all by ourselves. Luckily, next week we will have Grandma and Grandpa Swift with Uncle Caleb come to visit.

Thanks for all of the help Grandma and Grandpa Little!

Ethan has such a great smile!

Can you believe that Julia and Ethan's favorite food is hotdogs? These are the big sausage ones and they both probably ate three; definitely more than either Rebecca or I had.

We stuffed a block of bird seed in the lattice outside our back porch. Julia and Ethan have been eagerly waiting for some birds to come get their food.

Luckily I always have two helpers whenever I try to do any work from home.

Christian's Birthday

I wanted to give some more details about Christian's birthday. Early in the morning, I started feeling some contractions but was able to dose in and out of sleep until about 6. By then, I realized today (last Thursday, March 4th) was probably the day because the contractions were increasing instead of going away. However, my parents weren't flying in until that evening, and I still had laundry and grocery shopping to do that day. So Joshua went off to work, and I thought/hoped I could last until the evening. But, the contractions started growing very close together and very painful, and around 9:00 I called a friend to come take the kids. When she arrived at 9:30 I was feeling terrible and knew I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Joshua had rode his bike to work though, and I didn't want to wait for him to ride all the way home, so I decided to pick him up (the hospital is a couple blocks away from his work). Probably a dumb idea, because my contractions were about a minute apart, but luckily I made it and we got to the hospital about 10. It seemed like it took forever to get into the room and have the nurse see me, and all I could think about was the pain. Finally, the nurse saw me and said I was fully dilated and I waited a couple more minutes for the doctor to arrive, and then about 45 seconds later, Christian was born 10:32 am!

We love him so much; I am so grateful he is healthy and strong and here! It's amazing that my love for him is just as strong and encompassing as with Julia and Ethan when they were born--my heart just seems to expand in capacity for each child. I didn't think it possible to love so much.

Below are pictures of Julia, then Ethan as newborns. We're trying to decide who Christian looks like, if anyone.

Christian Arthur Swift

Baby Christian Arthur Swift was born on March 4, 2010 at 10:32 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. Baby and mom are doing great and came home from the hospital today. I will let Rebecca update on the delivery story later on, but just wanted to get out some pictures a little sooner. Please pass the word on to others!

Bedtime at our house

So the kids' favorite time of the day is when Joshua gets home from work. Especially lately, since I've had less energy with the pregnancy to run around and play games with them, they really look forward to this time. They usually rope him into playing a few rounds of hide and seek, motorboat, airplane (Joshua balances them on his feet while laying on his back and vrooms them around), and their favorite, horsie--pictured above. It's probably my favorite time of the day too, watching them romp around.

He also does the nightly routine with them (scriptures, prayers, stories, song), which is a fabulous break for me. We sometimes hear them chatting it up and/or singing with each other after he leaves the room, sometimes for quite a while. We caught them at it in this video (at the entrance of their bedroom).

Sunbeams!

Julia started Sunbeams at the start of the new year, and she loves it! She likes to talk about her friends and what they do during primary. So far I've gleaned that they do still get snacks, that in Primary you have to sit in your seat instead of run around like in Nursery, and that she has said the prayer in her class a couple of times. I wish I could just sit in and watch her throughout all of Primary and class (as it is, I do sneak peaks sometimes through the windows). We are so proud of you Julia! You are such a big girl!

Snow!!!

About a week before Christmas we started getting snow. Since that time up until last Monday it seems like it has been snowing every day straight. The snow has really piled up-- at least 2 feet deep at its highest point (this was about a week ago). Luckily the roads have stayed pretty well plowed and we have been able to get around fine, although Joshua has not been able to ride his bike to work on the really bad days. These last couple of days have been a little warmer and a lot of the snow has melted already, but from what we have heard from the locals the snow lasts through March, so we should be expecting some more soon.

On New Year's day we were able to all go outside and make a snowman. Ethan had a hard time staying on his feet and needed help getting up every time he fell (I think the three pairs of pants I put on him contributed to his immobility). Julia kept on telling Joshua that she thought the snowman was big enough. But, I think we all had a fun time.

The finished product! It stayed up for about two weeks and then one day we saw it laying on its side. We saw tracks leading up to it and away from it and so we have our suspicions as to what happened; our only question is who the culprits could be, because only adults live in our complex.

One of the worst days so far. There were probably 18-24 inches accumulation overnight. This was Sunday morning and unfortunately they don't plow the roads on Sunday. We had someone to pick up on the way to church and so our 15 minute route ended up taking over 45 minutes.

Mr. Snowman looked pretty funny with all of the extra snow on him.

CHRISTMAS

We spent Christmas and New Year's celebrations here in New York. We missed seeing family, but enjoyed our time together. On Christmas Eve, we continued the tradition of acting out Christ's birth, along with eating a picnic "Jerusalem Dinner" consisting of fish, pita bread and grape juice around the stable we made from our dining table. Julia was Mary, Ethan was Joseph, with Joshua as the donkey; much of the time was spent in "traveling" to Bethlehem--i.e. wandering around the house until the donkey's back almost broke. I got to narrate and do all the other parts partnering with select stuffed animals.

Mary, Joseph, and the donkey taking a break at the stable

On Christmas day we talked to family on Skype, participated the the Swift family talent show, had some friends over for Christmas dinner, and enjoyed some delightful free time while kids played with their new toys. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for sending Jesus Christ to the earth to save us. What a joy it is to celebrate His birth and the peace and hope His life and mission and atonement give to us!