Megan weighs in...

Jenny took Megan to the doctor this morning for a weight check.

This morning she weighed in at 10 pounds...4 ounces. Definately more than we expected.

This was obviously good news...especially since Megan has started to finally nurse from Jenny almost full time now.

Something old...something new

(My Mom and Dad might be the only people who find this interesting, but here goes.)

About a year ago my parents got out a box of my old Disney books from when I was about 5 or 6. If I remember correctly it was one of those "book of the month clubs" that I belonged to...only with Disney books.

So anyway, now we got them out for Ben and he's been loving them. It's fun to see something you had as a kid get new life again with your children.

Anyway...thanks Mom and Dad. He loves them...

Another week as a family of 4

One of the advantages to being a stay-at-home dad is being able to help out Jenny full time during her maternity leave. It's nice that we can all spend time together and not have to worry about work or school schedules. It's almost like a 6 week vacation...only with much less sleep.

But both of us have been doing great juggling the two kids. I don't think either one is getting neglected at all...and for the most part Ben is still getting a good amount of attention. It's been raining here all week so Ben has been cooped up inside alot. But today the sun came out and we got him outside for the first time in a while...so that was nice.

Anyway, Megan is doing great. The past 3 nights when I've been staying up with her she's been very laid back. She'll wake up when she's hungry, she'll be a little more alert at night...but overall she's been very easy-going. We've been on the lookout for any signs of colic...and so far we haven't seen any. Thank God!
We're not out of the woods yet, but so far no colic.

Bathtime!

Here was Megan's first official bath. She actually did pretty good. We remember Ben fussing a lot during his first few baths, but Megan fussed very little. And actually Ben really enjoyed taking a bath with Megan. He kept talking about it the next day...about how much fun it was.

Fun with Grandad & Gammo

When Steve and Wendy were here last week it rained almost everyday. So unfortunately we weren't able to show them a lot of the natural scenery around town. However, on the last day of their visit we did manage to take them out to Dow Gardens. Gammo helped Ben during the "harvest." The "harvest" is an annual event at the Children's Garden...where kids help out with the gardening and pulling vegetables.

Ben also got a kick out of our "Skype" night. For those of you who don't know Skype is a program you can download for free on your computer...and then chat online with other Skype users. We've been using it to talk to the family. If your computer has a webcam you can use it with Skype and see who you're talking to.

Grandad & Gammo

We had a great time this past weekend with Steve and Wendy. They came up on Saturday and stayed with us for a few days. I'm sure they enjoyed meeting Megan, as well as spending time with Ben.

I wish we had better weather for them when they were up here. All weekend it was in the 60's...and it was raining or drizzling. Oh well...hopefully the weather will be nicer for them next time they're up here. I promise we don't normally wear our jackets up here in August. Man...it was unusually cold last weekend.

Anyway...we all had a good time despite the weather.

Ben and Nicholas

Our friends...the Manchesters...came over last week to see Megan. Ben had fun playing Thomas the Train with Nicholas and William.

Ben loves cars...but Nascar?

I took Ben to the Midland county fair the other day. He loved it...about as much as I hated it (but that's for another blog entry). Anyway, he loved riding all the kiddie rides. Here's the one that was his favorite. These are kiddie-size Nascar cars that whip around on a pint size track. Ben loved it.

He's in the red car...number 94.

Please...please...please Ben. Please don't grow up and be a Nascar fan. HA!

Ben and Megan

As we've mentioned to some of you Ben is doing great with Megan. He constantly wants to see what she's doing and give her lots of kisses. Also, he always wants to share his toys with her...as you'll see in this video.

He's a good big brother. Whenever she begins to cry about something Ben gets genuinely concerned and says, "Megan needs a bottle..." or "Megan needs a diaper."



So far we haven't seen any signs of resentment or jealously, and we are constantly on the lookout for it. But so far Ben has done nothing but welcome Megan into the family with open arms. He's been a big help around the house.

A Day With Thomas

Last week Ben and I went to a "Day With Thomas" festival down in Flint, MI. There's this park there that's decorated as an old 1800 village, complete with an antique train that circles the park. Well, last Friday they replaced the old steam engine with a full size working replica of Thomas the Tank Engine. So we got to take a train ride with Thomas around the park and do other Thomas related activities, such as playing with various Thomas toys.

Ben is really into Thomas right now so he had an absolute blast.

Megan at 2 weeks

Megan is getting bigger so fast now. It seems like everytime I look at her she's changed somewhat. Overall she seems to be a very easy-going baby. Her only flare-ups seem to be when she's hungry or overly tired. When she's either one she gets very upset and very worked up.

But for the most part she's settling into her routine nicely. She's still up a lot at night, but overall she's doing very well.

Happy Birthday!

Tuesday was Glacier's 8th birthday. Can't believe we've had her for 8 years.

Anyway...just wanted to make that announcement. Afterall...she's still our first child.

Kicking Back

Here's Megan chilling out on Mommy's lap. As you can see...she's grown quite a bit in a week and a half. Wow! Look at that chin.

What's Ben Watching?

Ben is really into "Little Einsteins" right now. It's a show on the Disney Channel...about 4 kids who are into art and music. Also they have a rocket ship that they fly around in. Ben loves it....mainly for the rocket ship. He constantly goes around the house singing the theme song..."we're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship - soaring through the sky...Little Einsteins."

Out For A Walk

The other day Ben and I took Megan for a walk around the neighborhood. Everytime we walk with the stroller Ben wants to push it - and if I have any hand on the stroller whatsoever he will tell me to take it off. He wants to push the stroller all by himself...no questions asked. He says..."I'll do it. I'll do it. No daddy. Take your hand off."

Playtime!

We got one of those new play mats for Megan. She seems to be interested in it...if only for about 10 minutes or so. We're slowly introducing it to her. She seems to like it though.

Getting Out

Megan is already getting out and about a little bit. Here's Ben and Megan ready to go for a ride. We're still getting used to having "two" little ones in the backseat...but it's fun.



One of the places we went to was Q-Doba...a Chipotle kind of place. So we've already introduced Megan to Mexican food. She pretty much slept through it...

A Little Boy

It's funny how a new addition to the family can change how you see things in life.

As soon as Megan was born I began to realize my little guy had suddenly become a little boy. I guess I never took notice before until Megan came along. Somehow Ben went from toddlerhood to boyhood right under my nose. Now when I see the two together, I see the little boy in Ben come out. Amazing.

I am so proud of how Ben is growing up, and I am thankful for the bond the two of us have. I will obviously have my hands full in the coming year caring for Megan and forming a bond with her...but I am making a determined effort with Ben to keep our bond strong.

I took this picture the other day at Dow Gardens, and after I took it I just sat there and watched my little boy. Geez...growing up so fast.

Brother & Sister

Some pictures just melt your heart...and this is one that melts mine everytime I look at it.

Ben wanted to hold Megan, so we sat him down and placed Megan on his lap. He knew to hold the head up and put his other hand around her bottom. He then started giving her kisses right away.

He is trying so hard to be a good big brother to his liitle sister. Jenny and I are so proud of him.

Megan's First Week

Here are some pictures from Megan's first week. Overall she is doing very well. She's gaining weight and seems to be eating more and more each day. Sometimes I don't know where she puts it all. She was weighed at the doctor's office last Wednesday and she was 8pds, 4 oz. Then on Friday she weighed in at 8pds, 10 oz. Then this morning we took her in again for a weight check and she was at 8pds, 13 oz. So she's almost back up to her birthweight. She hasn't quite grasped the whole nursing thing yet. We're of course working on it, but she gets easily frustrated and will stop and cry. So in the meantime we're still giving her lots of bottles. But both she and Jenny are recovering wonderfully.

We've had lots of family in town to see Megan and help us out. We just wanted to say thank you again to Jackie for all of her help over the past two weeks. I'm sure she was starting to feel like a local here in Midland, but we really appreciated her help around the house and with Ben. Also, we wanted to say thanks to my Mom and Dad for coming up as well and helping us out with things. We're so glad they got to come up and spend some quality time with Ben and taking him out around the town. Also, thanks to Judd for letting us borrow his wife for 2 weeks, and we're glad he came up to see Megan and spend some time with Ben. We hope everyone had a good time while they were up here. It was really great to see everyone.

Mid Michigan Health Announcement

Here is the picture that the hospital took right after Megan was born. They wanted $20 for it.
We weren't too impressed with it, so we decided not to buy it.

Anyway, here it is...

Megan and Mommy

Well...Megan is awake right now, so i'm holding her while Jenny sleeps. Thought I'd type this (with one hand) and post this video. Here's Megan and Mommy right after delivery.

Meet Megan Frame!

Please welcome the newest addition to our family...Megan Lynn Frame.

She was born Sunday, Aug. 5th at 3:52 pm. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces...and measured at 21 1/4 inches. Quite a big bundle of joy!

Jenny did fantastic with the labor. Absolutely fantastic! I was so proud of her. Everytime I thought she was going to give out on me she popped right back up. She was unbelievable! She made it all the way through with little pain medication, and overall managed her contractions very well.
She did have another placenta issue this time. You might recall with Ben her placenta tore and she underwent some serious bleeding. This time her placenta was caught and didn't want to come out. She pushed Megan out in about 30 minutes...and then she pushed the placenta for about an hour.

But that's all over and done with and Jenny has performed a beautiful recovery. Now both her and Megan are doing great and are back home taking some much needed rest.

In the meantime we have Jenny's mom here helping me out with the two of them and Ben. My parents are also in town helping us out, and they will be leaving in a few days. It's nice to have all the extra hands right now...not only for Jenny and Megan...but we want to keep Ben's routine somewhat similar to what he's used to. Besides...he loves having all his grandparents around. And as far as Megan goes, he absolutely loves her. He can't stop kissing her.

Anyway, to avoid clogging everyone's inbox with photos...I'll just post some here for everyone to check out. Besides...everyone's asleep right now and I gotta go try to get some sleep for myself.

Saturday night...and all is quiet

Nothing new to report. No baby yet.

Last night Jackie babysat for Ben while Jenny and I had a date night. We got some italian dinner and then went to see NO RESERVATIONS. During the movie Jenny was getting contractions...about every 7 to 8 minutes...but nothing too serious.

Today, however the contractions became less and less, so we're not any closer today than we were yesterday. We took it easy all day and hung around the house. We all took a couple of walks around the neighborhood, and went downtown tonight for pizza and an evening walk. I'm sure tomorrow will be more of the same.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Til next time...

Still waiting...

No baby yet. Still waiting...

We went to the doctor on Monday and Jenny was still around 2, so baby is definately taking her time.

In the meantime she's still going to work, but coming home early in the afternoons, usually around 3.
She wants to hold off on taking off work before the baby arrives because any time she takes off now
will take away from time on the back end after baby arrives. It's just a juggling act she has to manage.

Obviously if baby continues to take her time Jenny and her doctor may talk about inducing. Our doctor
(a midwife) isn't opposed to inducing, but she wants to use that as a last resort, and only if Jenny gets
too uncomfortable.

So if inducing looks like it's going to happen then I'm sure Jenny will take some time off right before it
happens.

That's all the news I have to report for now. We'll keep everyone posted if anything changes.