thanks buddy!

We reached a wonderful landmark last night - Will decided to sleep from 11:30 - 6:30, which gave mama 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. We'll see what he decides to do in the days/nights ahead, but at least we know this little guy can do it.

A few other pics from this week:

We've had little sickies this week - Andrew ran a fever last weekend which became bronchitis later in the week, which he in turn shared with his brother (fortunately Will and mama have been spared so far - we're praying it stays that way). So Caden, Will and I listened to the service on our computer Sunday - this is Caden listening to his daddy pray via the radio broadcast. He didn't quite understand why he couldn't see him.

So why are there pillows, blankets, teddy bears, and memory foam in our bathroom? This morning Dave was trying to catch a few highlights on espn, so he told Andrew and Caden to catch the bears in our guestroom (7 of them), and put them in jail. Andrew came down a few minutes later an announced that all 7 had been captured and put in jail. When Dave went upstairs to take a shower, this is what he found. What cracked us up was that there were 7 items exactly, and that memory foam is crazy heavy and hard to move.

Child of the Covenant

We recently received a note full of such beautiful and striking truths from a friend at Covenant Seminary. They so capture my greatest hopes and desires for him (and my other boys). I decided to save and record them here.

Dear William Walker,

Child of the covenant - you have been born into a needy world marked by the wounds of disappointment, the scars of sin, and the ache of longing for redemption. You have been born for such a time as this, and to such a family! As a member of the Body of Christ you proclaim his salvation, His grace, and His redemption to watching world. May you soon hear his great love sung in nursery hymns, and see his Spirit at work in your parents' modeled humility and repentance. And may you so long after Him that every step along this life's journey takes you closer to glory....until this world closes in sleep and you awake to the whisper of your Savior, "well done good and faithful servant."

Welcome to the family,

Joel Hathaway

Covenant Seminary

my three sons

I got to witness Will's first playtime with his brothers this morning. He was baby Jesus, Andrew and Caden were the wise men, and they brought him gifts. The gifts were as follows - his paci, a rattle, and a very large plastic gun. NICE. These pictures were taken shortly thereafter. I realized we hadn't taken any pictures of all three boys together yet!

this one captured a little baby smile

life with 3 begins

So we're almost a week into life without grandma and grandpa, and surviving fairly well. The biggest adjustment has been functioning on a lot less sleep, and dealing with boys who miss their grandparents a lot :). After a little growth spurt this last week (feeding more often), Will is now usually sleeping from 11-4, and then 5-7, which gives mama 7 hours of sleep on a good night. That, I can live with! Here are some pictures which highlight some of the week's activities:

We decided to move Will out of the bassinet and into his crib since his reflux noises were keeping us up a lot at night. I slept in this bassinet as a baby (as well as my brothers), and all three of our boys have used it, so it's held a lot of wee newborns!
Tia came over for a movie and pizza night before heading back to NYC - so fun.

She helped us put the boys to bed - they loved that.

Andrew brought out toys, and gave Will his favorite puppies, blankets, and pillow to make him comfy. He definitely seems to be asserting his role as the protective and nurturing oldest brother.

THE BOUNCY - oh how we love you! This was a gift to the boys for Christmas (and an investment in my sanity), and we have used it SO much already. Perfect for getting energy out on these cold winter days.

come bounce with us!

1 month already?

We can hardly believe that our baby Will is already 1 month old! Already he has changed so much - he rolled over from tummy to back at 3 weeks (we'll see if continues to remember how to do that), is charming us all with little smiles (we've yet to capture it on camera), he's starting to coo and talk, and is seeming so much bigger! It's been a wonderful and full month. Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Jack have been an incredible help, and allowed us to really enjoy these first precious weeks. They leave tomorrow, which will be VERY sad for all of us. Now the real transition begins!!

itty bitty toes

sweet face

talking with Grandma Kathy

He loves his mobile - Caden continues to be SUCH a sweet big brother. He likes to bring him his paci and stuffed animals.

Grandpa Jack's arms have quickly become one of Will's favorite resting spots - they've had several naps together :).

Potential blackmail material - we caught Grandma Kathy in a Redskins jersey.

Will at 3 weeks

a merry little Christmas

Christmas was wonderful :). We ventured out for the family service on Christmas eve, and enjoyed having family in afterwards for Shepherd's pie. Christmas morning was lazy and sweet, with an afternoon full of resting and old family videos. We headed over to Dave's parent's house for Christmas dinner around 4pm (we forgot our camera..so no pics), and returned with extremely sleepy and happy boys around 10pm (they NEVER stay up that late...it took several days to recover). We had the best of both world's this year, with my parents in town, and Dave's family close by.

Jake and Jen stopped by to meet Will on their way out of town

OC's relaxing in the living room

Chris, Gin, Hunter, Emmy, Kaleigh

Bryant and Ann joined us for a bit

opening Christmas pj's before bed

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy got in on the fun too

Christmas morning - the scene (pre-fire)

excited?

wow...

Caden was probably more excited about the cookies than his presents

Will took it all in from his boppy - pj's courtesy of Tia :)

a photo shoot of santa's littlest helper...

paci face

Dad, that flash is crazy...and thanks Carol for the bib!

My favorite moment this Christmas - Andrew brought his old birthday balloon downstairs (don't ask my where he found it) and put it by the tree for Jesus' birthday. LOOOVE that.

SNOW!

We thoroughly enjoyed the record breaking snow that fell on DC this past weekend. It snowed hard for over 24 hours straight, leaving 18-24 inches of snow, depending on where we measured in our yard. We may never see anything like this again - it was pretty amazing!

Andrew greeting the snow in the morning
getting bundled up is hard work

making a snow mountain with daddy - this is the first time Andrew got really into snow. He didn't want to come inside.

resting and watching the snow fall by the fire - such a perfect day

happy mountain

family time

it was so funny to watch to boys try to walk through the snow

this didn't last long...it was too hard

backyard - the grill was totally buried

Dave dug a path to the playhouse - so fun

glowing Christmas lights

the girls venture out

a cozy night by the fire was the perfect end to the day