Big Brother

One of the most frequent questions I get lately is "How is big brother adjusting?" In short, I'd say very well. He loves his new baby. Every time Eric comes into the room (usually after a nap) Caden has to give him a hug. If he hears Eric crying he lets me know by saying "baby cry!" and then runs toward him. If Caden gets to the crying baby first he will try to kiss him on the head or gently rock him by pushing him back and forth. He likes to help me burp Eric after he eats, and shares everything from Chex to toys with him.

I love this picture. It was taken the first time Caden saw Eric and the smile is just so genuine!

2 Weeks Already!

Eric had his 2 week well check yesterday. I couldn't believe how fast it came! He's growing really well. When he was born he was off the charts underweight, so the doctor was really pleased with his growth.

Length: 19 1/4 inches (25%)
Weight: 6 lbs 2 oz (10%)
Head Circ: 33.8 cm (15%)

We also had him circumcised yesterday. Silly kid didn't cry at all during the procedure, but screamed bloody murder when they quit giving him the sugar water they had been using as a distraction.

Sharing

Because, really, who doesn't like rice Chex?

Broken

Kiddo fell down the stairs last night and broke his arm right above the elbow. We think he tried to walk down them without holding on to anything since both his hands were full. After a night at the pediatrician's for a splint and the ER for x-rays we spent the morning talking with the specialist on the phone then back to the ER at Primary Children's for more x-rays and a new cast. We go back in one week to see yet another specialist and get yet another cast. In the meantime I'm hearing lots of whines for "help!" since Caden can't seem to do much of anything by himself with his arm all splinted up. Oh well. It could have been much worse and we're grateful its just a broken elbow.

Just Like Brother

Ryan figured if swaddling helped one baby sleep better, why not try it with both. Caden thought it was pretty funny to be so tucked into his bed.

Behold Your Little Ones

When you get a chance, read 3 Nephi Chapter 17. Its the part where Christ has come to the Americas and is just wraping up his first day of teaching. I went to a training a few weeks ago where the teacher made the following point: Christ taught some of the greatest doctrines in the gospel, then called the little children to his feet and proceeded to teach such great things it couldn't be recorded. His primary audience for the greatest truths were the children. If Christ has such faith in the ability of a child to learn and understand, shouldn't we?

As I look at my new little baby, so recently from heaven, I'm struck again at how amazing it is we've been entrusted to raise these children. And when I read 3 Nephi 17 I realize that there is so much I can do to teach and prepared these kids, even at a young age.

Bili Lights

Check out the cool suitcase we got for Eric to sleep in! Its a party all the time with those awesome blue neon lights. It just seemed more fun than the nice cradle Ryan had prepared for him.

(For those unfamiliar with the concept, this is a bili-case that is used to treat jaundice. The lights are designed to help reduce the kid's bilirubin levels. Jaundice is super common and after a few days under the lights he'll be just fine.)

We're Home!

Eric and I got to come home from the hospital this morning. Hooray! We didn't bother putting his pants on him because as you can see from the picture the smallest pair we have are as big as his whole body. Luckily Ryan's mom heard how small he was and brought us some small onesies or I'm not sure what we would have brought him home in.



He was accompanied on his ride home by his lovey from my mom. She bought one for Caden that he loves so much that she decided she needed to get one for the new baby as well. It was so strange to look into the backseat of the car, see two carseats, and realize they both held our children.



Caden was so excited to come see mommy and the baby that he only made it about three steps out of the car before biffing it and scraping up both knees pretty bad. So, not to be left out, Caden got the hospital treatment as well and came home sporting two new bandaids. (The bandaid picture didn't turn out well, so just pretend I memorialized kiddo's wounds)

And this is probably my favorite picture from the last few days. Its the first of what I'm sure will be many pictures of my 3 boys.

More Pics

Caden came to visit baby Eric twice yesterday - once with Grandma and Grandpa Dodds and once with Grandma and Grandpa Scherbel. In between visits, when Ryan would ask him about his baby brother Caden would respond with a word that sounds suspiciously like 'Eric.' I also decided to take a close up of the new baby for those of you who haven't had the joy of watching him sleep constantly for the last 36 hours. (I have no idea why blogger is twisting the picture of new baby)

Our New Addition

After what seemed to be a long pregnancy and a drawn-out labor, we now have a beautiful addition to our family. Little Eric David Scherbel (as in A-Rick & David Scherbel named after both grandpas) was born to us early this morning at 5:21 a.m. We left for the hospital at 1:30 this morning and things progressed quickly, but not until after having 2 very tough days with very frequent but non-consistent contractions and literally no sleep for those 2 days.

Either way, we are the proud parents of a cute little 5lb. 10 oz. bundle of joy. Everything is looking good, and all is well. (We're especially excited about the hair.)

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Saturday night we went to the closing ceremonies of the Sandy City Hot Air Balloon Festival. Friday and Saturday mornings the balloons took to the skies. Saturday night they just set them up then used their propane to light the balloons. Both Caden and Ryan found it pretty interesting to watch the set up process. The balloons are huge when spread out on the ground. We didn't plan well for the weather, so my parents and Kellie had to bring us some sweatshirst and blankets after we'd only been there about an hour.

Radio Flyer

Every kid needs a wagon, and it may as well be an original Radio Flyer wagon. Last year Ryan's parents were cleaning out their basement and decided to send their old wagon along to our house. This past Saturday as Ryan was cleaning out our garage a little more he unburied it again. Caden is in heaven; Ryan is sick of taking the kiddo for rides around the cul-de-sac in it. About every 5 minutes he'll climb back in and just repeat 'ride, ride, ride' until someone obliges him. I came up with the cunning plan of teaching Caden to give his toys a ride, but still get roped into pulling kiddo on at least 3-5 wagon rides per day.

Meal Time

Although Caden still isn't sure about his big boy bed, he is convinced that the big boy chair is the way to go at meal time. He wants to do all his eating like the big people, including pouring his own salt and pepper. As you can see from last night's dinner plate he did the pepper all by himself. He didn't eat a whole lot of his steak after that. He's also catching on to the routine. Before he'll eat now he folds his arms and demands I 'pray.' Every now and then we'll have to pray again in the middle of the meal. And this morning at breakfast he pointed to his left (where daddy sits for dinner) and said "Daddy!" then pointed to his right (my seat) and said "Mommy!" Speaking of family meal time, I went to an enrichment last night where the guest speaker was Pantry Secrets. They taught us to make a simple bread recipe and then showed us lots of meal ideas using that recipe. I'm all inspired now to try out some of their ideas for lunches for Ryan.

Reassigned, Again

In mid October Ryan was taken from the Nationwide team at work where he had been for 6.5 years and reassigned to the newly created PEO team. Today he was reassigned again. His company signed a new contract with Ameriprise Financial doing a different type of administrative work than NBS has ever done before. Ryan will be setting up what has the potential to become a whole new department within the company. Its a lot of responsibility and pressure. The contract with Ameriprise contains a zero tolerance policy for mistakes and for now everything is on a trial basis. If Ryan does well Ameriprise will double and possibly triple the workload within a year. Other companies have expressed interest in the service if NBS does a good job for Ameriprise. For now its just another lateral move (ie, no pay raise), but we feel good about the potential for growth and its nice to know that Ryan's skills are being recognized at work.

Sometimes, It Just Takes a Daddy

Kiddo slept in his big bed last night. He went down at 9 pm and didn't peep until 7:45 this morning. Ryan knew just what method to use - tuck him in first, then read books and sing songs for 20 minutes while the kid got used to the idea of laying there, then hurry and run from the room before he could pop up and request the crib. Our tiny kid looks so cute in his big twin size bed!

Boating

For date night last night we loaded up the family for our first family boating trip. We were kind of proud of ourselves that we got the boat launched and reloaded just the two of us. Caden seemed to enjoy the ride, and I'll admit I loved just being out on the water. At one point we just stopped the boat and floated around the lake. There is something about the sound of water lapping against a boat that is so relaxing to me. On the way back in to the marina Ryan had me take a video to prove the thing runs. He drove the boat like a pro and floated us right into the dock. It was a fun little family outing.