Today has been extra special. I wore Mason's lunch. Literally. Just a little while after he ate it. And immediately after he decided to heave it. He apparently caught something from someone during the holiday festivities. So far Chase and Jaxon haven't shot the cat, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I'm not sure how my night will go since Mason's sickness started catching up with him today. I put him down for a nap about 4:00p and he's still asleep now (it's about 9:30p). We decided to let him sleep since he's felt so awful all day. I just hope he doesn't get up at 2:00a and want to get going for the day.

We've been trying desperately to keep the baby from getting sick, but I'm afraid it's probably inevitable.

Speaking of being sick, all the kids were sick with colds when we brought the baby home from the hospital. While Emilie was getting up with the baby all night, I was getting up with crying kids. Worst of all, Chase was getting up an hour or two early every morning and screaming out at the top of his lungs. Of course, when one starts screaming it's only a matter of time before he wakes the others. The first week was pretty rough with the sick children and new baby. The second week was a lot better, but now that we're sick again who knows what the rest of the weekend will bring.

The kids have started to play together very well, which has been fun to watch. The other morning I was getting cereal ready and I noticed that Mason had pulled the tray off of the high chair. Jaxon climbed in the chair and Mason was trying to help him put the tray back on. In general, the three kids will sit and play for extended periods of time, which has made it easier to handle the addition of another baby. Not easy, but a little easier.

Tonight was the first night that I heard Jaxon try to talk. He tried to say "ball" but it came out more like "bah". At least he's trying.

This post and the last probably seem a little disjointed but I'm trying to get caught up.

It's been quite the week, I must say. We spent last Saturday evening in the emergency room to discover that Emilie has gallstones. She had a nasty gallstone attack, which she did not enjoy. We had assumed that she was having complications related to her c-section surgery, but this turned out not to be the case. At this point it appears that she may need to have surgery at some future point, but she needs to wait until she's a little better healed from the delivery.

Baby Bryce is doing well. So far he's been a good baby. We're still working on reversing his days and nights. He's still got a thick, luscious head of hair that all the other babies in the nursery would die to have. The fact that he has survived two weeks with his brothers is truly commendable. When he starts to cry he sounds like a whimpering puppy, though. We're working on manning-up his cry.

Jaxon is quite the daredevil. I blogged a bit ago about the twins' obsession with climbing on the kitchen chairs. Mason seems to be a "convenience" climber. If the chair is there and he wants something then he'll climb it. Jaxon, on the other hand, constantly climbs anything he can. He likes to climb on the couch and then stretch over to the end table, then to the other couch and then the recliner. He falls a lot, too, but it doesn't seem to deter him.

Mason is talking quite a bit. Most common words are "I stuck", "get down", "thank you" and his favorites "book" and "cracker". He absolutely loves reading books, much as Chase always has. You can guarantee that anytime you sit or kneel on the floor Mason will come walking up with a book and make himself comfortable on your lap.

Chase is in the I-can-do-everything-all-by-myself stage. This includes picking out clothes, getting dressed, brushing teeth, washing himself in the bath, etc. I put him down for a nap today and when I went back up to check on him he had taken his clothes off and put his pajamas on. The other day he got mad that I dressed him so he took his clothes off and put different clothes on, but inside-out and backwards.

Chase had his birthday on Monday and we had a small get-together. Chase declined to blow out the candles. This was the first year that he kind of understood that there was something special about his birthday and Christmas.

Enough for now - I'll continue in a separate post to make reading easier...

Emilie and the baby came home from the hospital today. It's going to be interesting since Jaxon, Mason and Chase are all sick. The kids are all fascinated with the baby. I'm not sure how long it will take before they realize that this baby is a permanent fixture in our home (much like Pepsi or Oreo cookies).

The baby's name is Bryce Philip. Given a few choices, Chase seemed to really like Bryce and has been referring to the baby as "Baby Bryce" for a while now.

So, there you have it. The baby is currently downstairs sleeping and mommy is taking it easy. Assuming things calm down as kids start going to bed I'll try to get a couple bonus pictures up.

Quick status update since several people have asked:

For those who don't know, the baby was delivered by scheduled C-section, since the previous deliveries required C-section. Emilie's IV has been removed and she's back to eating normal food. She's been able to get up and walk around, so considering that just yesterday she was sliced open before having her insides juggled she's doing very well.

Baby is also very well. He's mostly been sleeping so there's not a lot else to say. He has a lot of hair.

Finally, the baby has been named but we're not saying yet. I'll post the name and a couple more pictures shortly...

The stars and planets finally aligned and I found myself with the time, equipment and means to provide the first picture of the new baby.

At the time of this writing a name has not been decided. We have a middle name and finally agreed on a last name, but the first remains undecided. I'll post it as soon as I know.

Baby was born at 8:11a this morning and weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and was 21". Everything went smoothly and there weren't any complications. Mom is recovering nicely and baby is well.

Here's the new baby (for pictures of the other kids see Chase's newborn picture and Jaxon and Mason's newborn pictures):

We've experienced some very newsworthy events lately. First, we paid off our car, which is just awesome. Too bad it's too small for our exponentially expanding family. Still, it's nice to have one less bill due every month.

Both Jaxon and Mason had their own special moment this week. A couple of days ago Emilie and I were both upstairs getting ready for the day. I was brushing my teeth when I heard Jaxon whining downstairs. He didn't sound excessively upset so I figured Mason must have taken his toy or something. When the whining persisted I headed downstairs to see what was wrong. He wasn't in the kitchen or family room. He let out another whine and I thought he might have shut himself in the bathroom. He wasn't there either. He let out another whine and I followed it to the laundry room. The light was off and I didn't see him in there either. Suddenly he let out another cry and I saw his arm and head emerge from the dryer. He had climbed in and apparently couldn't get out.

Mason was in the bath a few nights ago with Jaxon. I was rinsing Jaxon when Mason suddenly started coughing and choking. I was unsure what the problem was when I realized that he had something in his mouth. That something turned out to be soap. He had grabbed the soap off the soap tray and took a healthy bite off of it. I think he chewed a little and swallowed a little. He coughed and sputtered for the next five or ten minutes. He cried a bit and was noticeably disturbed by the taste, which he couldn't get out of his mouth. I gave him a glass of water to drink, but it didn't seem to get the taste out to his satisfaction. Maybe that will teach him to control his language.

So with all the daily excitement around here we're super excited to add another little one to the already thrilling mix. Or maybe we're terrified. Or some of both? Through all the terror we're starting to get more excited as the magic day draws near.