Who knew beards were contageous? Jer brought one home from preschool, and look what happened.
Tara is still making adorable bows, and Raia's hair is finally long enough to use them.
Nat just finished observing a pediatric dentist, and brought some fluoride home and did the teeth sealing himself.
Our organizational kids at it again.
The kids wanted a snack, so this was a creation to make a healthy snack fun. They still only ate about half.
Sammy's newest entertainment addition. At least the older kids love it, we just have to stop them from spinning or pushing it.
She is so proud!
He's pretty proud too, though having a crush on an appliance is a little weird.
The largest private home in the the United States was very fun to visit, but we wished we had come later in the spring when the gardens were blooming. We also visited a fabulous chocolate store called The Chocolate Fetish. It's good Ashville is so far away. The vegetarian Laughing Seed Cafe was also scrumptious.
I can't believe trees grow like this.
One of our favorite activities.
We decided to go back to Monkey Joe's because the kids had so much fun!
Tara went to the orthodontist for brace tightening with Sammy this morning and, you guessed it, had a HUGE blowout with no spare clothes. The office was kind enough to give him this shirt. Just his size!
We walked in to find our boy who never takes naps curled up under his pillow sleeping. Perfect picture moment.
I guess the older sibs are regressing from jealousy, or maybe the crib is more fun than their beds.
I'm not blinking first!
Tara has so many great projects. Both the bow and board are homemade.
Quite the selection, the pink is his favorite.
Still loving Mom's homemade tutu.
Jer seems innocent, but look at the wall to his left. He had some cracks in his fingers that were bleeding, so he decided to decorate the walls.
Here is a closer view.
How do you like that 'do, part two.
How do you like that 'do, close-up.
Perpendicular is about the most normal way she sleeps.
Jer is cooking up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Raia is throwing together a quiche.
How do you like that 'do?
Jer had a fabulous time with this potty day, thanks to his amazing mom who spent hours preparing.
Here is the bathroom door covered with heroes for Jer's "Hero Day."
Here is Fireguy, Jer's potty training buddy.
After a great day getting excited about the potty, Jer got some new shin guards, and we went to Monkey Joes Bouncehouse for a great celebration.
In fact, the party was so great, you can see what Raia thought about it the next day.
Father daughter chow-down!
Raia will wear anything on her head.
Friends, Family, and Cake, what more could you ask for?
Raia's favorite gift, a tutu made by her amazing mother.
Isn't this a tale of two siblings.
Never a dull moment, especially where corn starch is concerned.
Here we are celebrating the new year.
Our last present of the holidays, an addition to our train set.
I don't know what Sammy smelled either. Maybe a diaper change is in order?
We took a trip to the zoo and met a polar bear!
I don't know what Sammy smelled either. Maybe a diaper change is in order?
Our new game that the kids played for hours on end. Trying to get to a picnic before the pigs eat all the food has never been so much fun!
Family fun for everyone, even Sammy!
Here is the trive together. Aren't they cute?
Story time with daddy.
Tara kindly demonstrated what happens when you bite into a semi-melted truffle.
Here is our brand new band.
Still trying to spell with those blocks.
I love the progression of these pictures! Raia is so expressive!
You're looking good Sammy, but why so serious?
This is a cloud maker, and Raia, Sammy, and Nat are disappearing in the fog.
A great night at the RBC Center where we saw Woody, Buzz, and the whole gang on ice!
Yes, they were VERY excited.
Amazing party, great food!
How cute!
Just another normal laundry day.
How cute!
How cute!
Dishing it up! Thanks Raia!
This was our first time out bowling together.
Thanks for the help, fun, and good memories. We love you!
Thanks for the help, fun, and good memories. We love you!
Family party and another sugar high.
Either Sammy's impersonating a dragon or he's a little tired.
Raia showing off her skills.
Doesn't this look appetizing?
Nothing more exciting then a goat's rough tongue on your fingers.
Do you think the kids are excited for Halloween?
Getting to know our deep sea neighbors.
Red and blue sugary goodness!
Living the good life.
Last Friday we had newborn pictures taken, and they turned out really well! Sammy was 13 days old - we had planned to get pictures taken last Monday, but Jeremiah and Raia both had fevers, so we were busy this last week keeping them away from Sammy. We're hoping Sammy doesn't get any colds before he's two months old! Anyway, enjoy the pictures.
Freezing her tongue, and enjoying every minute.
Yep, Raia is living her previous life as an infant now that she has a baby brother.
My gifts - Sammy, balloons, and chocolate turtles. Sammy, of course, is the most amazing one in the picture. Newborns are so tiny! It's amazing to watch him open his eyes and look around at everything. I'm so glad he's here! And that I'm not 40 weeks pregnant anymore, of course. Or in labor.
Father and son
Nat is so good to me - look at the beautiful flowers he got! I love you, Nat! We came home from the hospital today - vaginal delivery recoveries are so much nicer than c-section recoveries. I was able to get up and walk around late Saturday evening, and I was ready to go home last night. Of course, Sammy was supposed to stay in the hospital at least 24 hours, so we waited till today to check out. We ended up driving away at 2:45 pm - just less than 48 hours ago, we were checking in. We're so very blessed that everything went so smoothly!
Our cute little ducky. Now that we know we have a boy, we can pull out the boy clothes to supplement all the non-gender specific clothes we already pulled out. Baby's are so adorable!
Jeremiah and Raia love their little brother. Jer was so excited to go on "an adventure" yesterday when Nat dropped him off at our neighbors, and we told him we were going to the hospital to have the baby. Today he came charging into the room, looking around for his little brother "Sam-u-el." It's adorable to hear Jer say Samuel's name! Jer was pretty excited to hold Sammmy, and meet him. And Raia was so adorable! She couldn't get enough of him. She saw him and demanded, "Baby! Hold this!" She doesn't like to let him out of her arms for more than a couple of minutes. They're both really soft with him, although Raia's in danger of smothering him with love, kisses, and hugs.
I need to figure out how to put video up, because Raia could not stop cooing to Sammy. Jer was happy to meet and hold him, but then was excited to play with the balloons. Raia, on the other had, was like a litte mother hen. It was hilarious, and so endearing, to see this small one and a half year old coo and pet and babble to a newborn. I don't know where she picked it up from - she doesn't really even have any dolls yet! And they say there's no difference between boys and girls. Raia is definitely a nurturer.
My happy family.
Funny faces
We're so excited to welcome our new little boy into our family! Samuel Chandler was only 3 days late, and came quickly when he decided to come! He's 7 lbs 9 oz, and 20 inches long. He's bigger than anyone was expecting - big compared to my other two! At my 40 week check-up this past Tues, the doctor guesstimated this baby would be in the 6 lb range. He's got more hair than my other two, as well. Anyway, the birth went well. I actually took Jeremiah & Raia to the children's science museum this morning, and felt a couple of contractions there, but nothing more than I've felt all week. We came home around noon for lunch, and I mentioned to Nat we may have a baby today or tomorrow if the contractions didn't stop this time. They started getting closer after 12:30, and by 3 or so they were 3 minutes apart. I figured if it was slow, like Raia's, we could still go to the ward bbq at 4, get a good dinner, then head to the hospital. By the time 4 rolled around, and the contractions were 2 minutes apart, I knew that wasn't happening. Nat dropped of the kids off a half hour later, got me dinner, and convinced me we should really be heading to the hopsital - this baby was coming faster than Raia. We got to the hospital around 6, and Sammy was born at 6:33 pm. Thank you, Nat, for convincing me it was time to go! I was going to try another natural birth, but changed my mind 20 minutes before he was born (due to the pain, of course), and requested that epidural after all. Of course, it was too late. The anasthesiologist stopped trying to put the needle in my back when the OB realized Sammy was crowning. That was the longest half hour ever. Well, ok, Raia's 45 min to come out was longer. But still, I was shocked when I looked at the clock and saw it had only been a half hour. It felt so much longer! But we're very happy to have a healthy baby boy, and all's well.
Daddy doing the first peds check for our baby boy. It was fun knowing all the peds people that came in, and showing Sammy off. All of our residency friends that were in the hospital stopped by to congratulate us, and it was fun seeing them. I may have felt differently if we knew all the OB residents and staff, but fortunately Nat's in the peds residency...
Just after birth (just after the eye drops, actually), here's our wide-awake little boy.
The proud daddy. Nat was anxious to hold Sammy whenever I didn't have him. Or he'd remind me it was his turn again. What a great dad he is!
Tess, one of the Filipina nurses in the full term nursery, giving Sammy his first sponge bath. She made us an amazing Filipino adobo chicken dinner a couple of weeks ago - it was fun having her be the one on shift taking care of Sammy tonight!
2 days over, and still waiting. Nat had this week off as paternity leave, so we've been doing things with the kids. Today we waded in the Eno river - it was perfect weather! Jer and Raia had a blast. We'll see how much longer this baby takes... It can't be more than 12 days, when I'd have to be induced. I'd much rather not be induced, though - it's makes for a safer vbac that way. Come soon, baby!
Raia was pretty excited to help Daddy put together her new bed today. She's moving up in the world! She doesn't really know who the little mermaid is, but she does like the fish on her bed. Now she has her very own bed to jump on!
Here is Raia in her new dress, finally. She wore it to church today, and actually left her bow in the entire time! Thank you, Raia. Cindy was excited to see how cute Raia looked in the dress. Thanks again, Cindy, for all your help!
After having this dress sit around for almost a month now, I finally finished hemming it, putting on the bow, and making the hair bow. Cindy, a talented seamstress in our ward, graciously helped me make this dress. Or rather, I should say, let me help her a little in making this dress, while she showed me how to put a project like this together. It ended up taking me probably around 15 hrs to make, because I'm a slow beginner, and around seven dollars. It was a lot of fun, too! Cindy, you're amazing.
Now that Raia has discovered she can open cupboards, she has a blast taking things in and out. This is one of her favorite cupboards...
Jer is helping me work in the garden. By shoveling miniature holes in the dirt part of our backyard. Some of the perks of not having a completely grassy backyard, I suppose. I didn't have to worry about him hurting the lawn at all! We all enjoyed be outdoors today. Hooray for spring!
So most people don't have leaves in their backyard in March, but we had a nice pile waiting to be shredded and added to our garden. So Raia find a nice patch to sit and play in while we worked on the leaves... and then she discovered the dirt. It's good for her, right?
Raia recently discovered hats, and now loves putting them on and pulling them off. Especially if Jer or Daddy does it first. It's amazing how much she learns by observing and imitating. She's so much fun!
Here's the sad picture of the day. The flash washes it out, but Raia got a nasty red scratch down her forehead and along the side of her eye. This was from falling off at the bottom of our slide in the backyards, and landing face first on a nice pokey stick. Poor thing! I was just grateful the stick missed her eye.
We celebrated our anniversary last week, when Nat had the week off, by going to Great Wolf Lodge, a fun indoor waterpark. Thanks, Lisa, for babysitting! We also ate out at a great restaurant - Nana's. The food, especially the sauces, was amazing... I miss all the great ice cream shops in Columbus, but it turns out that Durham is known for it's great restaurants. Sweet Tomatoes was a lot of fun, and we have yet to try some of the famous southern bbq restaurants. We have had southern bbq at a friend's house, though, and it was delicious! Oh, and let's not forget the annual ward pig picking. Anyway, we had a great anniversary. It was fun to look back over the last six years, and look forward to what is yet to come.
Despite repeated warnings, requests, and pleas not to color on anything besides paper, Jer has decorated our walls, carpet, kitchen floor, bathroom, and now the table. This is what happens when I step away for a minute...
And here's our little explorer, discovering which cupboards she can open. We've already moved the trash to the top of the dryer (right off the kitchen), so that she won't keep getting in it and throwing our cans in there. Now she's going after the pots. Fortunately, she enjoys putting things away as much as taking them out, so she's done a pretty good job of putting the pots back so far.
Raia loves playing with her daddy, especially peek a boo and tickling games. Here they are, peeking around the corner and having a great time. It's fun to see the kids get so excited every time Daddy comes home - it makes me feel a little better about the nights when they ask for him and I have to tell them he's staying at the hospital tonight, taking care of sick kids.
This is Raia's new carseat that we got last month. We brought it in to give someone else a ride in the car, and she beelined for it. I'm glad she likes it!
Samuel Chandler, born Saturday, Sept. 18, at 6:33 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 in long. He was only 3 days late, and at 6 hrs, was the quickest delivery yet. Another successful vbac, hooray! Jer & Raia love their little brother, and we're excited to welcome him into our family!
My hard-working hubby, Nat is in his second year of his pediatrics residency. He's almost half-way done! He enjoys working with kids, and has a blast in his nursery calling at church. In his free time he enjoys being with his family, racquetball, playing the guitar, reading, and wrestling with his kids. We love you, Nat!
Mother of two crazy kids, and a third just arrived! I have a blast playing with my kids, until they wear me out, that is... I also love to read, make cards, juggle, make crafts, and bake desserts. Who needs dinner when there's dessert?
Our rambunctious 3 yr old, Jer loves cars, dirt, rocks, puzzles, running, wrestling, balls, playing in the rain, playing on the computer (one of the reasons this website doesn't get updated often), and playing with his friends. Our house has a circle in it through the front room, kitchen, and family room, so Jer loves to run in circles throughout the day. He also loves to chase his sister, be chased by her, and play tag. If I ran as much as he did, I'd be in amazing shape...
"Mommy, make it rain."
"Oh no, Baby Raia ate my math game!"
"Daddy's at the hopistal (hospital)."
"Maybe is misdappeared (disappeared)."
"I like poskittles (popsicles)."
Our adorable two year-old, Raia is fearless. She climbs up everything, unlike Jer at this age, and is able to get up everything at the park. We found Jer and Raia in Sammy's crib, and his explanation: "Raia showed me how to climb up." She loves to dance, sing, and ride the tricycle!
Be right back
Peeze (Please)
No, no, no, monkey! (For the elephant song)
Chase me!
Baby! Hold this! (I wanna hold him)
Soar (dinosaur)
Bumblebee
Hug
Luv oo