Owen and Scrooge

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Owen had his last performance on Saturday, and he was sad (as were we). He did such a wonderful job and he really got to know the cast well. He loved the music, and he sang it in his sleep. What a wonderful experience.

Good Afternoon

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The first photo I've been able to capture Henry smiling. Enjoy!

Scenes from Christmas

My dad flew in for Christmas! The boys were super excited to see him and he must have been quite happy too, because Owen said to him. "Wow grandpa, I'm not sure I've ever seen you smile before!" Out of the mouths of babes! The boys got electric scooters and a giga ball (the yellow thing in the picture - you get in and someone pushes you around in it), but they haven't played much with those toys, because they also got new games for their Wii. And that's all they want to do...play w/ the Wii! UGH! Luckily, Owen has soccer camp this week so he can't completely rot in front of the Wii. As for me...I'm tired. Henry hasn't been sleeping so much this week, and while he hasn't got fussy or colicky he certainly doesn't like to be put down. So, Eddie and I have pretty much spent every minute of the day holding him. If we put him down, he cries. Suggestions? It's very similiar to what Owen was like. I'm hoping to get my Christmas Cards out this week. (Now, I guess they are New Year's Cards)

Tiny Tim's Solo!

Yeah! I got Owen's solo to download! Doesn't his sweet voice bring tears to your eyes?

More Christmas Carol

A Scene from The Christmas Carol

Owen had another great Christmas Carol performance. Last night my cousin Kate and her hubby Mark came from Pennsylvania to see it and today Owen had over 40 people in the audience there to watch him: friends, teachers, soccer team friends, neighbors....He was a little more nervous, but he still did great. Only one show left and my dad will be there for it. I taped his solo and it turned out great, but I'm having trouble downloading it to this site. I think the file might be too big. I'm going to keep working on it, because it's adorable. But, found out tonight you can buy the taped DVD for $25.00 (let me know, if you are interested), so I don't have to worry so much about taping it myself.

Good Night

Henry slept from 10:30-4:00 last night. Good Boy.

One month old

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Henry weighs 9 pounds and is 21 inches at one month. A little peanut! That's the exact size of Emmett at birth!

Missing Grandma

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Owen has taken to sleeping next to a photo of Grandma until her pillow arrives. Emmett carried the photo with him to school and the teacher said he never took it out of his hand. Kind of pathetic, really......

Emmett's Christmas Program

My sweet, quiet, shy boy managed to sing all the songs at this years Christmas program (he did nothing last year!), but he refused to do the hand motions. Maybe next year? This video is funny! He's the only one not doing the hand motions. My mom left immediately after his show and we (all but Eddie) cried our eyes out all day. Emmett kept saying, "he felt so blue." Owen cried himself to sleep after calling grandma and asking her if she would mail back the little pillow she sleeps with so he'd have something to remember her by. Absolutely heartbreaking....And I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up w/ everything by myself. Maybe someday we'll get closer.........

Snowed In!

We were snowed in today! Around 13 inches of snow and still coming down.....
So, we made the most of the day. I gave the boys their annual new Christmas jammies (the green ones), we baked Christmas Cookies, and the boys snuggled a little more w/ grandma. Doesn't Henry look big already? Time goes so fast! My mom leaves in two days (sob, sob). What an adjustment it's going to be for all of us. I (literally) have not entered my laundry room in one month and I've hardly touched a dish. Plus, I haven't had to get up in the middle of the night w/ my big boys. We are going to miss her so much!

Photos from The Christmas Carol

Scenes from the Christmas Carol: Emmett and Henry awaiting Owen's debut.
Owen w/ Mr. Crachitt (his other dad as he calls him)
Owen w/ the Crachitt family (X 2)
Owen w/ Scrooge

Tiny Tim

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My mom made his outfit for him this week while she was here. Isn't it amazing?

Owen's first performance as Tiny Tim

Owen rocked his first performance as Tiny Tim. He absolutely couldn't have done any better. He delivered all his lines spot on, sang his solo beautifully, and looked adorable! When he first came out the whole crowd said, "Ahhh......". And, other than Scrooge he got the biggest applause at the end of the show. This video isn't my best effort (Henry was nursing at the same time), but it works! I'll videotape his solo at his next performance.

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Ho Ho Henry

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My friend and photographer, Amy, took this picture of Henry. I'll post some more after this one. They are absolutely wonderful!

Henry

Yeah! I got my video to post! (thanks, Amy!). This is nothing special, but a quick shot of Henry. Hopefully, more fun videos to follow. I was going to delete this, but I couldn't remember how? How do I do it, Amy?

Let it snow!

Snow day! School's out! Today was our first peek of the winter to come.....
1 foot of snow and more coming. My mom has repeatedly said that she can't believe people live like this for five months out of the year. Believe it, mom. It stinks!

The missing photo....

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Yesterday we went to cut down our Christmas Tree, and the batteries on my camera were dead. But, let me tell you what I would have taken a picture of had my batteries been charged.......
It was freezing yesterday! My car said 17 degrees, so I would have a photo of the snot dripping down the boys (and me and Eddie's) cheeks.
Mom and Henry waited in the car.
I would have snapped a photo of us walking through the zillions of trees, debating the merits of picking a douglas fir over a fraser fir (we ended up w/ a fraser).
And, I certainly wouldn't have missed a shot of Eddie laying on his stomach (in his snow suit....we have snow on the ground here) completely under our perfect tree trying to saw the (blasted!) tree down.
I may have had to use the video camera to capture the next hysterically funny scene. Eddie would saw three of four times then flop on his tummy, breathing heavily, and take a 10 minute break. After about a half hour of this, a young lad come by on his tractor. Owen ran over to him saying, "help, help...sir....our dad can't get the tree down." He then flopped on his tummy, sawing frantically, and the tree fell down in about 1 minute! Eddie thinks he must have had a sharper saw (whatever makes him feel better.....).
And finally, I would have taken a picture of Eddie strapping the tree to the top of the car.
What a afternoon!

Thanks Amy and Jeff!

Thank you, Amy and Jeff! Henry LOVES his new travel swing :)

Good Day!

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Today was a good day. I was able to get on a pair of real jeans. (True, they are size 16's...I ordered them while I was pregnant. And true, it's a little hard to breathe in them.....breathing is over-rated anyway, right? But you have to start somewhere). My friend, Amy, who took the first shots of Henry in the hospital did another photo session w/ him today. I'll send you the link when the photo are up. Henry gained 9 ounces from Monday, so he's now a hefty 7 pounds 1 ounce. And a friend, Stephanie Cramer, brought us a fabulous dinner! Can't beat that!

Brothers

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Emmett LOVES to hold his brother! He is Child of The Week this week at school and he took Henry as his favorite toy. He showed all the kids how to hold a baby and answered questions from his classmates about taking care of a baby.

Body parts

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Emmett and Henry's feet. Grandma's hand.

Lots of loving......

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Henry is getting lots of loving from his big brothers! They take turns sitting in the rocking chair holding him. He doesn't seem to mind :). Bilirubin check today.....down one more point. Yeah! But, he's also down 3 ounces from his discharge weight of 6 pounds 11 oz. Can't quite figure that out, because he is definetely eating.
I'll put a pic of Em holding him tomorrow. I haven't gotten those down loaded yet.

Is this normal?

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Eddie thinks something is wrong w/ Henry. It's the craziest thing. He sleeps almost continuously, but wakes up every 3 hours on the dot to nurse, then immediately goes back to sleep. Bizarre! He opens his eyes a total of about 20 minutes during the day. The rest of the time he's either sleeping or eating. Can this be right? Is it possible that I have (finally!) got a newborn that doesn't cry nonstop or demand a lot of attention? I caught myself thinking......aha! This is why people like newborns. Tell me, for those of you who are experienced mothers? Is this normal?

Jaundice update

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We had to go back to the hospital today to have Henry's bilirubin level checked again. Thankfully, while it had gone up 3 points from yesterday it wasn't high enough that he had to be re-admitted. Yeah!

Henry (Gross out photo)

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We're home....We're happy.....We're exhausted!

Going home!

We're on our way out! Technically not going home...headed to the Sports Center first as Owen as 4 soccer games today. Don't worry, we are not staying for all of them. We're just going to get my mom from there and then Emmett, my mom and I and Henry are going home. Stay tuned....

Henry Update

Another bilirubin tonight and it's good news. He's back down to 12.6! That's a 4 point drop! So, if he drops a little more during the night we will hopefully go home tomorrow. Yahoo...fingers crossed.

Another day.....

Sad news. Henry's bilirubin is now up over 16 and that buys us another day at the hospital and Henry spends the day suntanning under ultraviolet rays. I'm trying not to get too upset, because there are , of course, many more things that could go wrong and be much worse. However, I'm hormonal...and I miss my other kiddos and I'm ready to go home. Since Owen and Emmett have been sick they haven't come to the hospital to visit since Tuesday. I'm hoping they are well enough today to come for a short visit. And, to top it off, Henry has to stay in the nursery under the lights under the watchful eyes of a nurse. So, I don't even get to sit and snuggle him. He gets to visit me for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours to nurse. That's it!
OK....positive thinking.....enjoy the quiet, TV, book time, right? Because when I get home things will be crazy (and LOUD) again!

Henry Edward Bauer

To see pics of Henry: go to my list of blogs to the left of this post. Click on the photography by Amy blog. It is http://photographybyamy.smugmug.com. Go to client proofs. Then scroll down to proofs 71. That's him. Tell me who you think he looks like!


The story......my mom flew in Sunday night and I had a doctor's appointment on Monday morn. At my doctor's appointment my blood pressure was still elevated and the results from my 24 hour urine were back and abnormal. So, to my mom's and my surprise (she went w/ me to the doctor) the doctor said, "OK...you're done. Time to deliver." He told us to run home and get my stuff together and come back to the hospital. We were shocked (and completely unprepared)! Four hours later....Henry was born :). He did great and for those of you thinking of the third c/s..... go for it! The whole thing was great. I've had less pain than the other two kiddos. And, the OB said I could have a fourth if I wanted! (Eddie then offered to slip the OB so money under the table if he would "accidently" tie the tubes :). We can't quite decide who he looks like. The concensus seems to be Emmett's coloring (he's super dark!), but blue eyes (like Owen's) and Owen's lips and thick hair. Maybe he'll end up the perfect combination of the two. The boys are "over the moon". Owen was a little stand-offish at first. I think the whole hospital thing freaks him out a little. But, their second visit, they both were arguing over who could hold him first. Emmett has been talking to him in a adorable, sing-song voice, "don't cry baby....your big brother is here!" He's a little fussy, but doesn't seem to be anywhere along the lines of Emmett (he hasn't gotten thrown out of the nursery yet!). I hope he continues to be good.
It's Thanksgiving Day and we were supposed to go home this AM, but Henry is jaundiced and they want him here for one more day to test his blood work again. So....I'm here by myself (don't feel sorry for me! It's nice and quiet and I'm enjoying alone time w/ my baby!)
The boys haven't visited me in two days, though, (tear, tear) because they're sick. Emmett's has croup and his asthma is bad enough that my mom called at 1 AM last night and Eddie left to go help w/ breathing treatments and steroids. I miss them. And, as long as Henry's bilirubin doesn't go up tonight we can go tomorrow. If it goes up, we'll be here for a few more days as he'll have to go under the bili lights (like Owen did).
Anyway, check out the photos and let me know what you think! (I'm using a hospital lap top). I'd recommend this hospital to anyone! I have had the absolute best care! If we go home tomorrow, I'll post pics to this blog...so check back!

Piano

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I love how Emmett's hands look when he is playing the piano. So tiny, yet perfect.

Mom to the rescue.....(w/ a little help from a dear neighbor and friends)

It started on Tuesday, November 13. My dear neighbor saw me and said that me face had literally swelled up over night (funny...my eye lids did feel kind of puffy!). So, she walked me in and made me take my blood pressure, (I LOVE this lady! She is a "little" older then me...her kids are older than mine and she takes such good care of me! I adore her!) and it was high. I promised her I would take it easy and keep checking my blood pressure. I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday (she said I'd better or she would call my mom! I think she might have anyway :)). I also got a headached that evening. Flash forward to Thursday at my doctor's appointment and my blood pressure was high. He did lab work and a 24 hour urine (Eddie had to drop my urine off Friday...he was thrilled. He said he was headed to the urine depot), and told me to go home on modified "bed rest" and come back on Monday. My friends (I'm so lucky!) took the kiddos for a good portion of the day on Thursday and Friday. And, my dear neighbor showed up and washed all of our dishes and fed us dinner. And, my mom (who wasn't due to fly in for another week) offered to come. I told her I'd be fine for another week, but she is coming anyway (which is what I wanted her to say, of course :)) So...YIPEE! My mom will be here tomorrow and is staying for over a month! Can't wait....
My doctor got my lab results back and said they were good. But, he also said that if my blood pressure remains high (and it has so far this weekend), he would deliver me this week. EEK! Not sure I'm quite ready for that......
So, if you have been trying to reach me or I haven't got back to you on email...this is why. I'm "resting". Stay tuned this week. I'm teaching Eddie how to down load photos of the new baby on this blog!

SOCCER PARTY!!!!

Owen had his soccer birthday party today at the indoor sports center. He said it was his best birthday party ever! I had to force him off the field to blow out the candles on his birthday cake, so the kids that wanted cake and ice cream could eat it. He didn't eat cake, ice cream, pizza, or open birthday presents, because he didn't want to leave the soccer field. Not sure everyone there is quite as soccer crazy as he is, but everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. Poor guy! We came home and opened presents, (he got 3 new soccer balls.....he already has 5, but still was THRILLED with his new ones!) then he had to get in the car and go to a three hour rehearsal.

Owen's 7th Birthday

Owen had what he called, " an awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome" birthday on Tuesday. I made pumpkin pancakes and sausage for him for breakfast. And, at school, I brought a new book for the classroom with the intent of reading it to the class (but, he decided he wanted to read it to the class) and he passed out cupcakes and juice to everyone. After school, we opened presents and went to Chili's for dinner (his choice). He got 5 birthday cards from girls in the class. All saying, "I love Owen". And, he said there was a girl on the bus who told him this other girl wanted to kiss him. He couldn't figure out why she would want to do that.......Oh dear, things to look forward to! Today, Eddie met him for lunch and ate with him in the cafeteria. He said it was SO LOUD!!! His birthday party is Monday at the soccer center.

Tiny Tim up WAY past his bedtime....

Owen had his first rehearsal tonight and OMG! What a commitment! I'm really so not prepared for this. He is practicing 3-4 times a week, which is not fun enough. But, the worst part is that he is practicing most nights until 10 PM! For example, the week of my c/s he is practicing 4 out of 5 week nights until 10 pm. The WEEK OF MY C/S!!!! It's a half hour drive over there. Tiny Tim can't stay up until 11 pm 4 out of 5 school nights. Oh, what am I going to do?????
Side note......he came out of rehearsal tonight (his first, remember?) saying that was AWESOME! He said, "we just sang songs the whole time." It was great! So, I guess the good news is that he loves it. (and that it will all be over in 6 weeks :))

Thank you, global warming!

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OK....so I know it's not pc, but I'm very thankful, today, for global warming. It was 72 degrees this afternoon in NY and made for a beautiful evening of trick or treating. My boys have never been big into dressing up. Sure, they love the Halloween candy but can do without the dressing up part. So, this is what they threw together kind of last minute. Owen was a soccer player (shocker!) and Em wore Owen police's costume from last year. I made it all the around the block (we have big blocks here!) and then contemplated the weight limit of the stroller we had brought along. Deciding that I probably exceeded the weight limit, the boys took me home and I passed out candy while they continued along. Wonderful!

Yeah, Emmett!!!

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My quiet, shy boy who is very, very content to follow Owen's shadow stepped out into his own spotlight today. He has been asking when he learn to play the piano like Owen. I told him when he turned 4 and he has been anxiously awaiting the day. We finally got lessons set up and he was super excited. Until today...the day of the lesson. He said he changed his mind. He wasn't ready. What happened if he made a mistake? He didn't know the keys yet? On and on and on......He wanted so bad to do it, but couldn't fight the voice pulling him back when it came right down to it. I told him he had to go today. So, he pulled it together (with me sitting outside the door) and did it!!! And, he did wonderful! He even talked to the teacher (she was concerned he wouldn't talk to her). He bounded out of the room when the lesson was over and said he wanted to come back next week. Then, he went home and practiced. I am so, so proud of him!

30 days left......

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Not sure why this photo is blurry. But here is an updated pic of me. 30 days and counting.....

Tiny Tim in a soccer uniform w/ his brother

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So....Owen got the part of Tiny Tim! He's super excited. I'm happy, but feeling overwhelmed about the additional craziness that has been added to our lives! His first practice is November 5, and he will be performing in 6-7 shows between December 13-30. They've already sold over 1000 tickets to the show and I've yet to see it advertised. If you happen to be in the Syracuse area during that time, let me know and I'll see if I can pull some strings to get tickets. Surely Tiny Tim's mom can get free tickets, eh?

To satisfy my curiousity.......

The poll is closed. Most of you (7) dislike Abram the most. With Leo (4), Spencer (3), Isaac (2), and Henry next (1). So, Henry is the one you all dislike the least. Interesting, that's Eddie's fave, too. But, out of curiousity, I want to know who voted for what???? Who was the one person that voted for Henry as their least favorite? Click on comment under this post and tell me what you voted for!

Audition: An Update

There were about 10 boys at call back tonight. They lined them all up from tallest to smallest. Owen was the smallest. Then they took the bottom six away. (The top four were too big to be auditioning for Tiny Tim....14 year old range). Owen said they taught them a song from The Christmas Carol (God bless mother....God bless father...) and they had to sing it. Then, they brought the six back. A few minutes later they called back three of the six. Owen was one of those three. He said they had them sing the song again and then walk with a cane. Tiny Tim had a cane, right? So, my guess is that he is in the top three for Tiny Tim! We should know by the end of this weekend. But, I tried to explain to him that even if he didn't get the Tiny Tim part he will be one of the children or part of the ensemble. Which would be equally exciting (and probably a lot less rehearsels for mom!). Stay tuned......

Broadway here he comes...

Got a phone call today that Owen has made call backs for Tiny Tim in the Christmas Carol. And the director told me that even if he didn't get Tiny Tim, he would be cast in the show. This is a HUGE production on Syracuse's main stage in front of thousands and it couldn't be at a worst time. Rehearsels (spelling?) start November 1 and they perform December 13-30. But, he gets paid :) and he'll think it's a blast and my mom and dad will be here to see him perform and they have never seen him before. So, yeah!

Pregnancy: Unedited

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OK...so I know that this is a little dark and kind of gross. But, it is my ankle and my fingerprint molded into my ankle. I definetely have 3-4+ pitting edema (swelling, for you non-nurses/MD's)! Disgusting! 43 days and counting.....

Name Criteria and today's ultrasound

Thanks for the suggestions about boy's names. Keep them coming. I love to hear them and am putting deep thought into all of them. Just a reminder about my criteria for picking the perfect name:

1. Name can not end in a n or t.
2. Name has to be a traditional, old, "antique charm" kind of name. Nothing trendy!
3. Name must be two syllables.
4. I would prefer it to not start w/ a O or E (but I could get past this one, hence Eli).

So, happy searching. Please send me ideas!!!!


So, I had an ultrasound today at work, mainly because the residents and nurses have been telling me how HUGE I am (as if I didn't know this). I measure by touch (fundal height) 36 weeks. I'm really 32 weeks. By ultrasound I measure 34 weeks and the baby weighs about 5 pounds already. He's also frank breech and unlikely to move at this point and size. This means his butt is down and he's folded in half. His legs are up by his ears. Thankfully, I am already having a c/s, so it really doesn't matter.

Another name????

46 days and counting.....

How about Eli?

If you have any other suggestions, please share. I'm getting desperate!

Glitter pumpkins and another audition

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Got another phone call yesterday from the Syracuse Children's Theatre, the company that Owen has performed w/ before. They said that the big theatre in Syracuse is going to be putting on a production of The Christmas Carol and they wanted Owen to audition for Tiny Tim. So, I debated whether I should let him do it or not, talked to many of you on the phone, and asked him what he wanted to do (YES! YES! he said) and decided what the heck. If he got the part, it wouldn't be great timing (new baby and all). The performances are December 13-30, but I didn't know what the chances were of him getting the part anyway and the experience couldn't hurt. So, we went. There were probably about 10 other boys auditioning. All were older then him (8-10 years). My dad thought Tiny Tim was around the 10-12 age. It was pretty funny, though. All the boys were blond hair, blue eyes. That must be what Tiny Tim is supposed to look like. He had to sing a song and dance a learned routine. You don't get to watch the audition, so I have no idea how he did. We won't know for another week or so, but I doubt he got the part. They seemed to focus on 2 other boys. But, I figure it's still a big honor. They keep calling him to audition for various parts and I didn't even sign him up for theatre this fall. Owen mentioned that he misses the theatre and would like to be in the spring production, so I suppose I'll sign him up again.

When my mom visited last year, she brought this great idea of glittering pumpkins, instead of carving (I think she got it from Martha Stewart). The pumpkins turn out great. The kids love to do it, and it doesn't leave pumpkin guts all over your house! Double Bonus!

New Name??

Someone at work tonight suggested the name, Noah. Any thoughts on it? Post your thoughts in the comment section immediately below this post. I'd love to hear everyone's opinion.

Back from the ENT

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We're back! And, even though Emmett was on antibiotics for a sinus infection and ear infection 10 days ago.....he has a raging ear infection. Poor guy! He is now on 3 antibiotics (one orally, one by ear, and one antibiotic nose spray). The doctor had to vacuum the pus out of his ear and his tube came out (which has only been in for a couple of months). And, they cultured the pus in his ear to see if it was being caused by a resistant infection. We go back in a week.....
This picture was taken after I told Emmett I couldn't rock him anymore. That I had to get some laundry done. Owen nicely said he would rock him. Thanks, big brother!