She's Here! - The First Three Days -

And we're off to the hospital early Monday morning, April 7 for 7:30 a.m. check-in:Time for surgery at 10:10 a.m.:
Weighing in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 20 inches long, Katelyn Victoria Tepker joined us at 10:25 a.m.:
All I could hear from behind the surgery curtain were comments about Katelyn's beautiful, thick hair, my amazingly red, huge, healthy placenta, the "thick as a hose" umbilical cord, and rhetoric of "good scarring" on my insides.

Finally, I was wheeled into recovery where Kevin handed me my little girl:

The boys arrived to meet their sister just in time for her first bath:
Snug as a bug:Both Grandma Y and Grandma J found Katelyn's hair irresistible and took turns throughout the afternoon combing it into hairstyles ranging from spike-tops to Elvis-influenced sideburns:

Katelyn amazed the pediatrician and all of us with her strong neck muscles! She is already - as you can see in this photo, taken after only a few hours after her birth - able to lift and hold up her head and look around. On her tummy, she can also already lift up in a yoga pose!
Proud Daddy and Daddy's Little Girl:

DAY TWO

Collin got up close and rubbed Katelyn's cheeks, which she found extremely soothing. She turned her head to him and closed her eyes:
A healthy burp produces Kate's first smile:

"That's enough photos, Paparazzi Mama!"

Kisses and quiet talk calm Katelyn after an especially poopy diaper change!

DAY THREE

Our little princess:

Our adorable little lady has her first "real" photo shoot with the hospital staff: (This photo is posted on the hospital's website.)Then we got Katelyn ready to go home!
Home at last!!
Collin: "What's that on her belly? Look! She has a steak on her belly!"
Grandma: "A what?"
Collin: "It's like a steak or bacon!"
Grandma: "Oh that's her belly button!!"

...

Grandma: "Do you want to hold her, Collin?"
Collin: "Not while she's got that steak on her."

Owen jumps at every opportunity to hold or touch his sister. He learned to give her her pacifier if she's sad "to make her happy!"
Last night before bed, Owen was sitting on my bed with Katelyn when Katelyn started fussing slightly. Owen jumped down, and I wondered, "Where's he going??" Within seconds, he jumped back up, pacifier in hand, and held it ever so carefully in Katelyn's mouth until she started sucking, patting her hair gently with his other hand and saying, "Don't cry, Baby Katelyn." It was soooo sweet! Talk about a moment for tears!
Check out this pouty face:Katelyn is an angel! She took naturally to the breast and is hardly ever fussy at all. Every three hours or so she makes a few whimpering peeps to let you know she's ready for her meal - otherwise, she's as patient and angelic as could be. We are wonderfully blessed by this most beautiful and special little girl:

Welcome to the family, Baby Katelyn! We love you!!!!

Poll Results

Thank you all for your input! It was very helpful! Here's the results of the 24-hour poll:

What combo do you like best?

Katelyn + Kate = 17
Kaitlyn + Kate = 6
Kaitlyn + Kait = 6

Three of the six who liked Option II said to do Option II only if I like Kaitlyn better than Katelyn (as that was the tone of my email) - but definitely to go with "Kate."

Those who liked Katelyn and Kate said it's "classy," "lovely," "elegant," "traditional," "simple." Note: All grandmas (that participated in the poll) voted for Option I.

People who liked Kaitlyn and Kait said it's "unique," "exotic," "eccentric." Note: The extended Carmody clan almost exclusively voted for Option II.

Two people said they prefer the name beginning with a 'C.'

Four people said "Kait" reminded them of "Bait." One said "Kait" could be a man's name (or more masculine).

One person thought "the first Lil' Tepker Girl" might just want to go out on her own with "K8." Love that one!

We went with traditional names and spellings for Collin and Owen ~ and let's face it Jennifer and Kevin are weren't in the Top 10 for years because they were unique! So Katelyn Victoria Tepker it will be! In less than 24 hours!!!!

Katelyn's Room

Add a pink bunny, a pink elephant, baby's first doll (love it!). Then trade out the blue and yellow curtains for pink and green curtains with flowers and butterflies ~~ and Voila! The nursery is just perfect for a little girl! Thanks to Grandma J for the fabulous curtains and diaper stacker and to Renee and Aaron for the adorable crib bumper!
Survey: How would you pronounce "Kait" if you saw it? The same as you'd pronounce "Kate"? I am so torn! I have decided that I prefer spelling "Kaitlyn" with the "ai" vs. "Katelyn" BUT I prefer "Kate" over "Kait." The dilemma? I want the spellings to coincide. Or at least I think I do. Don't I? Please weigh in!!

Is it Spring?

This weather is bizarre! This past week, I've awoke in the middle of the night several times to see snow flurries. And each morning, we've had a light dusting that melted by noon in the revel of a beautiful afternoon with sunshine and warm degrees. Then suddenly yesterday afternoon, it began snowing again!! It snowed off and on all night. We had three inches this morning. By 9 a.m., we were down to dry roads and only an inch or so of really wet snow on the ground. Now, at 10:45 a.m., it's snowing again! Kevin is shoveling off 4 inches from our driveway as I type! And there is no end in sight!

To add to the craziness, we put out our bird feeders and planted flowers two weeks ago, and I just saw our first hummingbird return! I was so excited!! But then I saw that he couldn't get to the food through the accumulated snow on the feeder!! It's nuts! Meanwhile, other birds have flocked and eaten through a whole feeder's worth of food, and I need to trek out there to refill it so they can at least keep their bellies full, if not their feathers warm. :)

Collin Quote of the Morning: (as we're looking at the healing scab from a cement burn on his foot) "It's so stylish!" HUH?!

Random Highlights

The boys are finally weaning (read, we're finally weaning the boys) off their bedtime warm milk. If you have been around the boys at bedtime, you know this is no small sacrifice. They LOVE milk. We buy at least four gallons a week. BUT, Collin has quickly learned that a little sacrifice can go a long way ~ a week into it, and Collin has had dry nights every night! Needless to say, after three dry nights, he was so proud that he quit asking for milk each night ... and Owen is so much easier to distract ... : )

Last Sunday morning, the boys and I pulled out all of their dinosaur stuff (and put on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle masks - see Collin) and had a Dino Hour. After a while we decided to tackle a Dinosaur encyclopedia. I was shocked to see them flipping through the pages and jumping from the couch, running to their pile of dinos, and matching their dinosaurs with the ones in the book! They really got into it, and it was a great morning! The dinosaur Owen is holding below is a T-Rex, and it has recently jumped into his Top 4 must-haves: #1 Mini Football (in his right hand, but you can't tell), #2 Mario Andretti "Cars" car, #3 Doggie, #4 T-Rex ~ in that order, except #2 and #3 alternate priority ranking depending on the time of day. By far and away, however, the mini football has the highest ranking and lives in his hand, his pocket, our pockets, or on the bench next to the dinner table at meal times.
Natalie and Collin enjoyed an afternoon painting (Owen is napping in the background). Notice how well they painted inside the lines? Collin ended up painting the whole page and adding blue ("Look! Yellow and Blue DO make green, Mommy!"). He also ended up painting up half his arm, while Natalie barely had a drop on herself and kept in the lines for nearly every piece of art. Natalie also worked much faster and completed two pieces for every one that Collin completed!
Collin's favorite nights are steak fajitas nights! He loves grating the cheese and rolling his own "tacos" and "burritos." He's learning to love to cook and asks to help before every meal. The best part is, he seems so pleased with his hard work that I swear he eats twice as much now!

But when it comes to some things, Owen still out-eats him! In the pic below, Owen had finished his ice cream and was asking for more, while Collin still had half a bowl remaining! Collin graciously began offering his to Owen. They both thought it was so funny that ultimately Collin spoon-fed Owen the rest of Collin's ice cream!
Now prepare yourself. What you are about to see may shock you. It shocks me each time that I dare step in front of a mirror!! ... Two days before Collin was born, we went swimming at Lake Padden, and I wore a bikini and it was so wonderfully freeing! I felt big but beautiful and somehow oddly empowered. And I wasn't the only monstrous prego on the beach either! It was great!! But I declined the photo op, and I have always regretted it. I was HUGE! It's worth documenting! So, after Collin had three dry nights, we let him pick a special family activity as his "reward." As luck would have it, he asked to go swimming. I definitely do not have a swimsuit that covers up this belly ... so, the bikini came out of the drawer, and we headed for the pool. Only this time, I stood proud for the photo!!