Aunt Catherine visits

And gets cemented to the couch by a sleepy baby.

O+Z 2 weeks old

Happy to be two weeks in this world. Clearly. 

GrandPop's cradle...

...fits two.

costumes continue

...today, Grama stands in as the construction paper seamstress. She handled the all the ordering around very well,  I must say.

 (And yes, that IS James Mason as Captain Nemo on the table. Who else would Lincoln request to dress up as immediately after finishing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Kirk Douglas? I think not.)

W family visitors

Pat, Sarah, Julia and Bess came for a visit.

Pat snuggled Zeph.

And Sarah (plus one unknown cousin-on-the-way) got some stern looks from O.

 While Linc played with the big kids. And proudly introduced his new siblings to his cute cousins.

guess who's visiting today.

And guess what they brought Lincoln:

Yep. Matty all the way across the continent, and Ritik all the way across the suburbs.

 And one of them did lots of baby holding, while the other did lots of Lincoln gifting.

 And Linc was in hog heaven with such fun old  friends.

Linc keeps busy

Amid all the burping and feeding and diapers, Lincoln manages to keep it together and keep himself busy. John got him a special lego ship and they spent most of 2 days obsessively building it together.

 And this book has been read,on request, like,  523 times.

And he came home from school today and made me cry a little with a very proud presentation of his first effort at writing his name.  Between the babies and me, there is a lot of crying around here these days. Time seems a blur. But Lincoln keeps right on growing and changing, regardless.

Grama and her newest grandkids

baby portraiture

Model A.

 Model B.

 And A (left) and B (right), in colored pencil on paper.  Brought home from preschool today, by Lincoln.

yawning Z

cry baby, cry

Grama

Grama is here for awhile. Hopefully a long while. (Because this is hard. And she is kind...and, obviously, a seasoned veteran.)

GrandPop & Grama Ewa visit

Z sisters meet O&Z

And they did  a lot of holding. And burping. And cuddling. And changing. And rocking.  And smiling.

Grampa holds two

new family

big brother

Orson and Zephyr are born

Thursday, January 17,  2013. Delivered naturally (with a *bit* of pushing and prodding)  at 5:09 and 5:17 pm.

One bald old mr.  magoo;  one raven haired little  monkey.

Orson weighed in at 7lbs 3 oz.

Zeph at a  smaller-but-feisty  5lbs 14 oz.

John lent me some needed strength and calm in the midst of a crowded OR.

As  did the eventual  appearance of little healthy feet.

And I breathed a sigh of relief.

Overwhelmed by a sense of thankfulness.

And wonder.

Welcome to the world out here little kiddos.

waiting

3 years old

new years card

And here's to a brand new year, full of wonder.