Kate's Tumbling Act...

Kate started a tumbling class this fall with her cousin Brooke and loves it!  Her teacher, Jackie, is super strict and expects a lot out of her students and has helped Kate accomplish a lot in such a short amount of time.  At the beginning of the year Kate could barely do a cartwheel, and now she is doing bridge walk overs all by herself!  She isn't playing sports just yet so when she gets to perform the few times out the year she just loves the attention.  She did so well in her showcase and we are so proud of her, and of course think she is the cutest little gymnast on the earth.

Another Basketball Season...

Last year Zach "showboated" a lot, dribbling the ball between his legs and hardly making a pass to his teammates, so we decided to play Zach up a level this year to give him a challenge and maybe humble him a little. I think it worked!  He didn't have time to even think about trying out any of the tricks he watches on TV.  His team struggled at first to find a rhythm and passing to one another was not their strong suit, as everyone likes to be the team hero. But by the end they learned to work together.  He had a lot of fun and that's what is more important at this stage and had a couple really great baskets like the one filmed below.   

I'm 2 Months Old...

When you are in the day to day of it all 2 months seems like forever, but when the actual 2 month mark comes around, it feels like I just had him. Besides resisting nap time most days we have a very happy boy on our hands.  He has started to smile and coo and has jumped from 6lbs. 11oz. to 11lbs. 2oz.  To date he has had three nights with a 5 hour stretch.  Most nights he wakes up about twice but usually goes right back down  We aren't even going to talk about his day routine because there isn't one.  Although I would love for him to establish one, a morning nap is all that is beginning to routinely occur between 8:30 and 10 am.  So far it lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  I like the 2 hours...just saying.  

 

Ryan's Blessing...

We blessed Ryan the same weekend Zach got baptized.  We figured it would be better to do them both in the same weekend while Grandma and Grandpa Marostica were here.  Crazy busy? Yes!  Especially with Kate getting the flu and me having strep throat on top of it all.  But definitely worth it!  Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa were here to take care of us...we needed it!  And my parents and family here picked up my slack with hosting everyone at their house and providing the yummy brunch after the blessing.

Ryan was as sweet as could be.  I had just barely got him to sleep when it was time for Justin to take him up. Being the light sleeper that he is, we were all nervous that he would wake up and cry through the entire thing, but he was such a champ and stayed asleep. Justin gave him a wonderful blessing and both he and Zach bore their testimonies during the meeting.  I am so lucky to be a mom and have this little family of mine. It was a "count my blessings" kind of weekend.    

 

It's Great to be Eight...

Zach turned Eight and has been chomping at the bit to get baptized since December.  But he really wanted Ryan to be at his baptism which meant that he had to wait.  It also gave us some time to really talk to him about the importance and meaning of baptism and allowed lots of time for he and Justin to practice.  He was so patient and on February 2, 2013 he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a wonderful day and we are so proud of Zach for making this important decision.  Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, Grandma and Grandpa Marostica, Great Grandpa Thompson and Aunt Paige were all able to witness his baptism and helped us celebrate Zach's special day.  Afterwards we met up with Uncle Andy and his family for a celebratory dinner at Olive Garden for Zach's Favorite... Fettuccine Alfredo!  Zach we love you and are so proud of you and hope that you are as excited about becoming a member of the church as we are!  What a wonderful example you are for our family.  

Ryan's First Pictures...

My Sister-in-law Mari came to the hospital to snap some photos of Ryan.  She got some great pictures of him.  He's just a peanut!  

Then There Were Three...

Ryan Warren Marostica was induced into the world December 28, 2012, weighing in at 6 lbs. 11oz. and 19 1/2 in. long.  I am not so sure any of our kids would come on their own.  I have to admit I kind of like the whole induction thing.  I can get up and shower and plan for my hospital stay.  

So here I am just a few hours before his arrival.  I slipped on the hospital gown and they plugged me in and started me on Pitocin.  I went all the way to a 6 when I decided to call for the epidural.  My platelets were up this pregnancy and the epidural worked!  I felt nothing!  After progressing quickly to a 10 they laid me back to stall things until my doctor could make it to the delivery room.  Once he arrived the nurse told me when I was contracting and I gave a few good pushes.  4 contractions and about 12 good pushes and he was here, prefect and just as healthy as good be.  Best delivery yet!  Makes me think I should have more minus the the first two months of the infant stage...I get baby blues unfortunately.   What miracles babies are, and we feel so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  It's a little early to tell just who he looks like now, but he definitely looks like one of ours.  

His first visitors were grandma and grandpa Thompson who brought Zach and Kate to meet their new baby brother which was love at first sight, with a few tears shed from not being able to hold him long enough.    Then Jeff, Britt and the kids came later that night to hold him before they left town.  Then Heather and Brooke came to visit for a few minutes later in the night.  It was a pretty busy first day.  Mari, Halle and Maddi came the next day to see us and then Sunday we came home.  I hate trying to sleep in the hospital but coming home makes me nervous too!  I always freak out a little about how I am going to actually make this all work.  

We are surviving though, one day at a time.  Lots of eating, sleeping and dirtying diapers is going on around this house.  His first week home was a bit rough.  I had forgotten how to soothe a baby so he got super overtired and then was near impossible to be put to sleep.  He was up sometimes for 5 hours straight!  No bueno for me and Justin! Luckily we found his favorite way to fall back asleep so this last week was an improvement.  Some nights are still better than others, but I will take whatever sleep he will give me.  The kids haven't had as much holding time as they would like, but that will all change very quickly I am sure as he gets older and becomes more "awake".  We sure do love our Ryan!