We held our first Passover Seder this year. We invited Gary’s Mom and our friends Matt & Erika with their kids…nice and small to ease us into the craziness of a Seder. Of course even with only 9 people there, the 4 kids in attendance managed to make things very, um, lively. As it should be though! A Seder wouldn’t be a Seder without loud kids and some spilled wine. It was fun though, and Gary did a great job with all the food and leading the service.

Pictures were limited, but we got a couple nice shots of the table before chaos ensued.

Here’s the one shot I got of the kids playing. Nathan wasn’t too keen on getting his picture taken, as you can tell from this photo!

“What? We’re being good! I swear!”

Just a few photos from March…

Lately whenever I take out the video camera, Nathan wants to take video.

Hannah lots her Rainforest Bouncy seat right now.

She’s getting good at her Bumbo seat too. Nathan was putting toys on the little table for her, but I think Hannah was more interested in him.

We went on a great walk at Oregon Ridge with the whole fam.

Hannah got into the spirit for St. Patty’s Day.

And she’s rolling to her side pretty well.

Especially when her brother is there!

A few cute pictures to round out the month

We got together with Gary’s family for one of the Raven’s Playoff Games in mid-January (their last one since they lost, if I remember correctly). Everyone wore their purple, even Hannah!

I attempted Hannah’s first bow, mostly so she’d look like a girl in the gender-neutral outfit she had on. Cute stuff!

Hannah got lots of love from the family and I adored seeing her spend time with everyone.

We had a couple big snowstorms in January. We only managed to get out and play in them in the evenings, but we have a little hill in the backyard which was fun for sledding, and Gary and Nathan managed to make a cute little snowman.

Fen was in heaven of course

When Hannah was 6 weeks old (early January) we had a Baby Naming, or Simchat Bat, for her. Our dear friend Matt agreed to lead the service and did an amazing job, and our house was filled with friends and family. It turned out to be a great day (exhausting, but great!).

My brother and his girlfriend, Heather, came to visit for the weekend. It was wonderful to have them here to celebrate with us and to meet Hannah.

A friend of mine took pictures during the the naming, but I haven’t loaded them into Flickr yet. Here are some that were taken with my camera:

My Aunt flew in for a night just for the naming. We were so happy to have her there!

I love this picture! Six of the kids here (the exception being one younger sibling in the striped sweater), were all born within a few months of each other. I hope that we can continue to get them together like this for years to come.

Family picture with a squiggly 3 1/2 year old

More pictures here

Hannah got her first bottle on New Years Day and took it like a champ. It was a very different experience than we had with Nathan, who we had to give a bottle to early on to make sure he was eating enough.

Gary gave her the bottle to make sure there was no confusion since I was breastfeeding.

And of course Nathan joined in the fun!

Christmas morning was at Gary’s sister’s house with this family. It’s always a relaxed and fun time.

Nathan got a Toy Story Snuggie (his request).

Oma had a run-in with a remote controlled helicopter.

Usually we get the cousins in a picture together, but Nathan wasn’t going for it this year.

The holiday was pretty exhausting this year since Hannah was just a month old, and Nathan was on an extended high from several days of presents and junk food. But even so, it’s still always a holiday I love.

More pictures here

Hanukkah went by in a blur this year since it came less than a week after Hannah was born. The timing worked out so that my mom could be with us for the first night, and we had Gary’s parents over then too. It was nice to have the family there to celebrate with us.

Nathan got to use his wooden Menorah to light candles.

We opened presents every night, but isn’t it just like a kid to have more fun with the packaging?

Nathan loved Latkes!

More pictures from Hanukkah are here

Holidays aside, December was pretty much just spent starting to find our new rhythm (and we’re, um, still working on that).

Nathan checked out his new sister. He was mildly interested in her and didn’t seem too phased by her at first.

Fen was also interested in the new arrival. He still comes and sniffs her head from time to time, but he’s always generally very careful around her if he’s paying attention.

Nathan liked to lay toys in the bassinet with Hannah. It was very cute.

Hannah had her first bath. She wasn’t a fan at first, but we got it figured out eventually and she is fine with them now…it’s the getting dressed afterward she doesnt like!

Surprisingly Hannah did very little of this. From the beginning she’s been a pretty laid back content baby. Hopefully she’ll stay that way!

Hannah experienced her first snow fall.

I love her long skinny legs in this one.

Thankfully loving her swing and check out the hair! She came out with all that and has gradually lost some, but still has a lot up top.

Beginning to look a little bigger toward the end of the month!

More pictures from December here

Hannah Rebecca Stegman was born on Thursday, November 24 at 11p. She weighed 7 lbs 5.8 oz and was 19 inches long.

Here’s the story of how our day went….

I was 38 weeks 3 days pregnant and went to my OB for a regular weekly check-up around 10am, at which time the doctor told me I was 5 cm dilated and needed go to Labor & Delivery to have the baby that day! I think it was how far I was dilated combined with a lot of swelling in my feet and legs, and a few instances where my blood pressure went up and then back down. I was still shocked though, since I’d been having some contractions, but nothing regular or strong. Since I was feeling fine and kind of in denial about the whole thing, I decided to go home, take a shower, pack and make arrangements for Nathan. Then Gary and I picked up lunch and dropped the dog off at the kennel. On our way to the kennel, about three hours after leaving my OB’s office, we got a call from them asking where we were because the OB on call had been notified I was coming in and was waiting for me. Oops! I was in no rush to go to the hospital, but we got there around 2p.

Still being in denial about it all, I wouldn’t let the OB break my water (I kind of didn’t want to have the baby until the weekend, after Thanksgiving and a date with Gary to see the new Harry Potter movie), but around 5 or 6p, I got hooked up to Pitocin to try to make my contractions stronger. There was some drama with Hannah’s heart rate getting to high a few times, so it delayed me getting Pitocin initially and then they had to stop it around 7:30p when her heart rate went up again. It was a little scary the second time because I had no idea anything was wrong until half a dozen nurses and my OB rushed into the room to check on things. Gary had gone to the cafeteria with Nathan and his parents, so I was frantically telling my mom to call him while trying to listen to the doctor telling me to roll to my side. Unfortunately it was my left side, which was the side my broken rib was on, so it was a little uncomfortable.

Eventually they determined the baby was fine and my contractions began to be one on top of the next. Even though they weren’t super strong, it was beginning to be hard to deal with so I asked for an epidural, and that was when the OB broke my water.

My water breaking seemed to be exactly what my body was waiting for (guess I should have listened to the doctor in the beginning), and my contractions immediately got incredibly strong. I was VERY thankful the epidural was already on it’s way because I needed it. By about 10:30p I was fully dilated and we started pushing. I was brave enough to watch what was going on in a mirror, which was pretty amazing once I got over the weirdness of it.

Thirty minutes and three good contractions later, Hannah made her appearance!

I was feeling pretty emotional right afterward.

Lots more pictures here