Aquarium Visit

We decided to sneak on down to the aquarium with just Addison since Kelly's parents were watching Kara. First, Addison had to check our route on my Blackberry phone.


The aquarium was very busy, and Addison was being a little more clingy than usual due to all the people around. I ended up carrying her for a while until she was more comfortable walking around.

Addison kept dictating where to go, even if we had just come from that area three or four times previously. The cuttlefish display was up and running this time, which was fun to see since I had tried to keep some of these guys in my aquarium at one point. Here are some pictures of them and a movie.


Cuttlefish Movie

Here are some other pictures of some of the tanks, including the penguins. The penguins were not as much of a hit this year with Addison, I think primarily due to the huge number of kids and adults jockeying for position to see them.



One display that was a huge hit with Addison was the shark jaw and teeth display. She loved touching the teeth they had at the base of the display. She liked it so much that she did not want to leave for quite some time.


Yet another big hit was the shark cage. Addison went into this thing at least a dozen times. She would want to hang out in it and then leave for a bit, only to return a few minutes later.


She also sat on the ledge of one of the larger aquariums with me sitting across from her. Kelly was not allowed down here with us, and had to remain up the stairs. Addison would rotate from this spot to the shark cage and back again. Yes, we are a little tired in the first picture.


We then went to sit in the large theater style seating area that looked into the same large tank from a different area. I had been wearing a baby backpack until now, and it apparently left some nice sweat stains on my shirt.

On the way home Addison nodded off for a short nap.

Almost 4 Weeks Old

It is hard to believe, but Kara will be 4 weeks old here in a few days. We have been busy trying to get Kara used to normal sleeping hours. She will typically not get into a deep sleep until after 1:00 AM. The most she has slept at one time(to my knowledge) is roughly two and a half hours. She is still having some gas issues, and we are trying some of the gentle-ease formula to help. I have had horrible luck in getting her to sleep at all in her crib, so I will let her sleep on my stomach as you can see here:
Yes, my wife took that picture when I was conked out. I'll have to get one of her asleep now.

Anyway, Kelly's Dad and Stepmom Stella have been staying with us to help out with the new baby. They have been a huge help, and have allowed us to get some much needed rest. Addison has been her usual fun self with only the rare episode of jealousy over Kara. She has been having a lot of fun with her kitchen set lately, making "pretend" tea for everyone and serving it to them in the little cups from her tea set. I will make a slurping noise when I am pretending to drink my tea, and she will immediately ask me if I want some more. Sometimes she will take the cup and shove it right up to my mouth so I can make the funny noise again. Addison has also started wearing a small Cinderella bracelet when she is in the playroom. She will insist to have it when she is in there. We also have a small plastic watch that she has worn on occasion, but it is a lot more bulky than the bracelet.

Below is a picture of Kara's play mat with all the hanging items to keep her entertained. She can lift her head up surprisingly well right now, but still lacks control. She has hit both Kelly and I in the chin doing this.
Addison really likes to go wherever Kara is going and generally tries to help out in her own way. She will follow us if Kara needs a diaper change and sometimes she wants to help feed her as you can see below(notice the bracelet too).
She will also get upset if Kara starts crying a lot. This can be especially fun if Kara is fussy from gas and will not calm down for a while. Addison was very concerned the other day when Kara was in the baby swing and made some noises. She kept telling us that Kara wanted up from the swing.

My sister came over this past weekend to see her newest niece again. She had not seen Kara since the hospital. Addison has two camera moods lately. She either hams it up, as seen below with my sister, or she will scream and not want her picture taken.

I attempted to get some close-up shots of Kara smiling, since she was passing a lot of gas(causing the smiles). After a lot of attempts, she kept closing her mouth and eyes when the flash would go off. I was able to catch part of one in the first picture below. I had to take the picture fast before it was gone.

Finally, here are some more shots of Kara propped up on my legs for some posing. I even pinched her cheek for the fun of it.

At home with 2 Kiddos

Here are some of the last photos we took prior to leaving the hospital. Kara was all dressed up and out of that drab hospital outfit. We were ready to leave well before our checkout time that Sunday. We finally were discharged close to noon, and headed home with our new munchkin.
We noticed an immediate improvement when we arrived at the house. Having separate rooms to sleep and watch the baby greatly improved Kelly's chances of getting sleep. Addison was also in a better mood since her mother was not hooked up to any machines any more. Addison likes to point at Kara's toes and fingers after pointing at her own as you can see in the picture below.
Below we have Kara's first bath, which she did not enjoy. Addison also tends to get extremely concerned when Kara is crying and will often start crying herself. We have to re-assure her that it is only a bath and not hurting her sister.
Here are some more shots of our newest cutie after she was all clean.
After I stayed home from work for a week, Kelly's mom came down from Dallas to help out while I went back to work. My parent's were also helping by continuing to watch Addison during the day. It can get pretty nuts when both kids are screaming at the same time. Kelly's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Paul also stopped by since they were in town for a short trip.
Above we have Addison playing with the new flashlight that can be cranked to charge it. She loves to spin the crank arm and then turn the light on. At least it will be charged if we need it.
Below we have Kara's first swing experience, which went great until she got hungry. Below that is Addison posing for the camera with her pickle from her BBQ dinner. She wants us to take pictures of her too when we are taking some of her sister.
Above we have an attempt to get all the girls and myself in a photo. Addison was a little camera shy for this one, so she was attempting an escape.

4th of July with Kara

Shannon and Isaias came down from College Station to see Kara today. We can't wait to visit them at their new house that we have only seen in pictures. My sister also stopped by with my folks and they brought Addison up to visit.

Our 4th of July has consisted of mainly preparing for going home tomorrow. We should be able to check out before noon and finally head home. I am looking forward to sleeping on a real bed instead of this couch. It will also be nice get settled with Kara at the house and start a routine. Here are some more shots from today:

Day Two at the Hospital with Kara

Day two has been a lot better for Kelly up here at the hospital. She was unhooked from most of the monitoring equipment, and she was able to take a shower and put on some normal clothes. For some reason the gown we received had the ties cut off so you could not tie it except in one spot on the middle of the back. We keep joking that it was a hand-me-down. The only downsides about our stay here has been the small size of the room and the fact that the A/C is not working properly.

Kara is eating very well and has been squirming her little legs a lot. Addison came up to visit again, and I don't think that the new baby is going to hit home until we are at the house. Below are some new pictures, including a close-up of our new cutey: