Updates

Yes, we are still alive - just a little busy as you can imagine....

I survived my first day alone with the kids amazingly well! Katie gets a little more TV time due to my breast feeding (i'll put a show on for her so she doesn't get jealous) but I also read to her sometimes when I'm nursing too - so I guess it's not all bad.

They have been pretty good about both being asleep between 1230 and 2 or 3 - so I get a nap or break to clean in peace or just sit down and watch TV in quiet:)



While Dave continues to get peed on pretty regularly - I still have yet to be peed on once. No lie!
Above is the latest peed on incident - through his clothes and daves clothes! Priceless..

Katie is being a rock start about the whole thing and gets a little jealous - but I work very hard to make sure she doesn't feel left out or lonely. (hence the reading to her while I'm nursing Ben)

She does have her outbursts here or there for attention, but when all is said and done - it's not often and it's not that bad - so we are pretty much living the life right now.

I am not getting much sleep at night as Ben likes to eat every 2 - 3 hours so by the time I put him down and get in bed and fall asleep - he's usually awake again anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half later... but somehow I'm surviving and on limited caffeine which amazes me!


Katie likes to be included - so when Ben does tummy time, she does tummy time too! I have been showing her pictures of all the stuff we used to do with her that we are doing now with Ben so that she knows we did this all for her as well and I think it's helping with her jealousy:) Bedtime is becoming a challenge every single night, but it's the only real hassle she gives us -so we are working with her to make it smoother.

Sometimes she will randomly go hold his hand, or bring him a toy. She isn't super into him, but she isn't angry or resentful towards him either - so I'll take it! she's about as interested as I think we want her to be.

Ummmmm what else.... we are getting ready to MOVE INTO A HOUSE! I know... like I need more to deal with right now - but we decided that apartment living was too much for us and we lucked out and found a 3 bedroom 2 floor house to rent in Rutherford, NJ. We will have our own yard, driveway AND washer dryer INSIDE THE HOUSE - so no more going outside and around the house to do laundry - WAHOOO!!!!!!!!

What else? Oh - I will do a size update for Grammie - Katie is now in 2T or 3T for shirts... 3T is a little big but sometimes 2T is a little small. (I think you can tell by looking at the shirt if it's gonna be too small or not)

She refuses to wear jeans unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and prefers her comfy pants and leggings... I am not sure what size shoe she is in and will take her to get fitted soon as I think her size 6's are too small now. She has plenty of long pants and long sleeve shirts, but not much stuff or pj's for warm weather - so that's fair game:)

Ben is still in newborn - although we put him in 3 month stuff when we run out of newborn because he's spit up or peed through it... He is really pretty much set for clothes for the next 6 - 9 months as we keep getting perfectly kept hand me downs from a friend of a friend.

I think that's all I can update you with for now - as my time has run out and Ben needs to eat again - more to come at another time.

Wordless Wednesday

We're doing GREAT!!!

One day Dave saw her on the chair and asked her what she was doing and she said,
"I'm just relaxing Daddy"

She helped me with his bath by splashing water ALL OVER THE COUNTER

It's been over a week and we are all doing way better than we had ever dreamed we'd be at this point!

Katie is totally adjusting to having Ben around and is being a total trooper. She isn't jealous and she isn't too interested - which is good because I don't have to worry about her smothering him.

She is totally understanding so far about the constant breast feeding - she just wants to be able to play with the boppy every once in awhile. Dave and Katie hang out while Ben and mommy feed/eat.

I stay up with him at night and let Dave sleep and then Dave gets up with Katie in the morning and plays stay at home dad while I take care of Ben.

I try as hard as I can to pay as much one on one attention to Katie whenever Ben lets me, which means I'm kind of exhausted because I will play with her rather than nap if given the opportunity, but I think it's important and I think it's helping her adjust and realize I am not just spending time with Ben.


Katie LOVES getting mail and this week she got 2 packages just for her! Her new favorite things are her sunglasses (Thank you Cousin Kathy!!!!) and her Peter Cottontail stickers that we put on the window.

Ben is doing well - eating like a champ - we just got back from his one week weigh in and he now weights 7 lbs 4 ounces which is GREAT cause that means he gained 7 ounces since last Monday.
He is eating all day every day but seems to fully understand that nighttime is for letting mommy sleep for a little while. He usually gives me a 4 hour stretch somewhere between 12 and 5am so although he eats all day, I suppose I should be happy for the 3+ hours of sleep I get in a row when he does this.




Katie hanging out with her snack on the couch - yes that is my Ipod she's playing with!

So, yes we are doing VERY WELL and working like a great team. If only Mommy could get a little bit more sleep at night, I'd say everything is absolutely PERFECT.
Oh and if we had a robot maid that would cook and clean for us and do our laundry - that would kick ass too!

Happy Monday!

OH and P.S. I have yet to be peed on - but Dave gets peed on almost once a day! hahaha I win!

More Pics

His first tea party

It's been a little hectic - but we are surviving and doing surprisingly well.
Katie is adjusting VERY well and only acting out once or twice a day for attention and they are VERY MINOR.

So far Ben only cries if he's hungry (which is ALL THE TIME) or when we are changing his diaper (he's not a fan of that)

He literally poops and eats all day long. I forgot how much I hate changing diapers!!!

We bought him a special chair for the living room/dining room since he's doing so good in his pack and play - called the Rock and Play Bouncer - it's new and people who have used it swear by it. He is also as bitsy as Katie was so we are having a tiny issue finding clothes that actually fit him - but I'm sure in 3 weeks we will be fine again.

He also pees through his clothes like 5 times a day. His belly button is still yucky, so we don't tighten his diaper too much, so we are kind of letting him pee through his clothes, but that's because we don't want him to get hurt or irritated.

I'm hoping the feeding starts to settle down and that I am able to start getting some better sleep at night. The first 2 nights were great and then last night I think I got a total of 3-4 hours all night long. I'm trying to really limit my caffeine just in case it bothers him - so it's going to be a rough few days for me but it's ok - because I think he's doing MUCH better with nursing than Katie did, so hopefully we can keep doing it full time instead of me having to pump and bottle feed!

More to come once we come out of our haze.

On the Katie front - she has gone from being a super smart 2 year old - so talking like she's 5. She also apparently knows her left from right - we have been testing it for 2 days and so far - she's ahead of Dave in that game ;)
J/K!!

Happy Wednesday!

Benjamin David Metcalfe

What a birth story!!!! (to come later as I'm delirious at the moment)

Just know that he decided to come quick, painful and created total chaos!!!

But at the end of the VERY long and hard day we started pushing around 9:08pm and he was out and with me by 9:13 PM.

7.2 ounces (which is exactly what Dave guessed)
19 inches



We knew we wanted to call him Ben - but we just weren't set on Benjamin... at the end of the day, we figured we need a good, strong long game for when he gets in trouble -
so Benjamin David it is and we will call him Ben.

We are home. Mommy and baby are doing well. I am a "human watering hole" as Dave mentioned yesterday and getting adjusted. Dave is getting over a nasty cold so we are working as a team to try to keep these kids healthy and alive and happy:)

Our first night home with Ben and Katie went WAY better than our first 3 nights home with Katie - he only cried when he's hungry or being changed and we can put him down sometimes which we couldn't do with her.

I'm exhausted and sore, but doing awesome considering the severity of the whole thing and the quickness with which it all happened.

More pictures will come as the fog starts to lift from both of our brains!

Love to all!
Annie, Dave, Katie and Ben

Brother Baby's new clothes

My good friend Meghan asked me if I wanted some hand me downs from her friend that just had a baby.

Of course I said yes.... and here is what we got!!!

This kid is set for awhile on clothes.... (sorry Grammie)
The bag above is all newborn or 0 - 3 - we have pants, shirts, onesies, pj's and more socks than any kid would ever need:) It's waiting for Dave to come home so he can put it in the laundry for me and we can put it in his changing table. (which is already full of 0 - 3 stuff that we have gotten from people already:))

This HUGE STACK is all 3 - 6 months

This bag is all 6-9 months

I think the baby we got it from is only about 9 months old now - and his mom told Meghan that there is more to come as he grows out of it:)

Hand me downs are GREAT! One less thing to buy or worry about -
and I HATED when I would find something that we didn't get a chance to put on Katie and she had outgrown it - seems like such a waste to me:( Especially since they grow so quick and they spend so much time in pj's and onesies the first few months of their life anyway.

Sorry Grammie and Mimi, we'll have to find something else fun for you to look for for brother baby when you are shopping!!!:)

Let the countdown really begin... 12 days or less!!!!!!!!!!!!