EDIT!

I put the wrong date the first time. She was born on 10/26.

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Mavis' First Week

Here are a few pictures from Mavis' first week. We're all doing great. Howie is adjusting really well. Uncle Michael is a big help around the house & especially with keeping Howie entertained.

We don't have very many pictures from the hospital & none from the first few hours. Everything went so fast, we didn't even have time to bring the camera up. Long story short, she was born 2 minutes after we got into the hospital room. The doctor didn't even make it, so the nurses had to catch her. It was a first for at least one of them! Howie did come to visit in the hospital, but Nick forgot to bring the camera back because he was so focused on getting Howie there.

For those who are wondering about her middle name Ha'ani, it's a local Chamorro word that means "day." Now she'll always have a little bit of the island with her.

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She's Here!

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First Stitch

We were back from our vacation for less than 12 hours & had to take Howie to the hospital for his first stitch. We came home to a house with no food, so it was off to the grocery store. Howie, being his usual energetic self, was running & fell face first into the front of the shopping cart. I was on the other side of the store getting something we had forgotten. On my way back to the cart I see Nick carrying a crying, bloody Howie. Nick was holding the gash on Howie's chin with his thumb, & Howie's nose was bleeding & already swelling up. Nick took our poor little man to the bathroom to clean him up, & I didn't know what else to do but finish our shopping. I went to the checkout line, & Nick brought Howie out with most of the bleeding stopped. Thankfully, it wasn't severe, so we didn't have to drop everything & run to the hospital. We took our groceries home & quickly put away the cold stuff. The cut was too big to be glued closed, so he had to have a stitch. The doctor put some medicine on it to numb it, but he said it still might hurt to have it stitched up. Howie had to be wrapped up in a sheet like a little burrito, which was bad enough in itself. We had explained to him what was going to happen & that it might hurt, & we promised him McDonald's & an ice cream sandwich. We were so proud of our tough little man! He laid right there & didn't squirm or cry a bit while they held his head & stitched his chin. I guess the numbing medicine worked better than expected. We're going tomorrow to have his stitch taken out. It looks like it healed up really well. We are so thankful that it wasn't any worse!

stitch in chin






















swollen/bruised nose

It's A Girl!

We found out Friday that Howie's going to have a baby sister! The first picture is the 3 lines showing it's a girl. The next one is her face from the front. Then it's a side view of her curled up. The last one is her little foot. Sorry the pics are upside down, but we did the best we could with our scanner. We can't wait to meet her!

Oh my, Oh my

This is the first book that Howie has memorized the whole way through. There's a translation under the video. Enjoy!




Oh my, oh my, oh dinosaurs

Dinosaurs happy, & dinosaurs sad
Dinosaurs good, & dinosaurs bad
Dinosaurs big, & dinosaurs tiny
Dinosaurs smooth, & dinosaurs spiny
Dinosaurs weak, & dinosaurs strong
Dinosaurs singing a dinosaur song
Dinosaurs cold, dinosaurs hot
Dinosaurs cute, & dinosaurs not
Dinosaurs early, dinosaurs later
Dinosaurs crammed in an elevator
Dinosaurs plump, dinosaurs lean
Dinosaurs red, blue, yellow, & green
Dinosaurs looking right at YOU to say GOODBYE because we're through.

The Boys' Valentines Day

With Mommy off island enjoying her new favorite place (Thailand), the fellas were left to fend for themselves on Valentine's Day. No biggie; there's safety in numbers when multiple Mommies head for the jungle. So we spent our day with the Morrison boys, including lunch at TGIFriday's, a trip to Underwater World, gelato for dessert, and a BBQ at the house to top it all off.

Unlike the Mommies, Daddies are less on top of the picture taking, but considering I had to scrounge through a a drawer in my stateroom to find a camera, which I was able to charge for about five minutes before we left, I'm happy to have any pictures at all. Thank goodness for small miracles.

With that said, it wasn't quite Valentine's Day without Mommy. Even Howie's shirt is evidence that somebody was missing, as is his face in some of the pictures. We've done pretty good with her gone this week, but the guys are looking forward to having their girl home!!

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