Too Cute To Pass Up

These pictures are of Anthony when he was not quite a week old.

Tummy time!

Trying to lift his little head up.

Maybe someday I'll get caught up to current time!

Overheard

After scolding the boys for playing in their room when supposed to be napping, I stood outside their door for a minute and this is what I heard:

Dominic: I don't like Mommy as much.

Joseph: Yeah, I don't like Mommy.

Dominic: When Mommy is nice to us, I like Mommy.

Joseph: I like Mommy.

Dominic: When Mommy is mean to us, I don't like Mommy as much.

Joseph: Yeah, I don't like Mommy as much.

First Bath At Home

When Anthony was about 5 days old, he got his first bath at home. Since his umbilical cord had not yet fallen off, he got a sponge bath. He did not like that part all too much...

...but oh, how he liked getting wrapped up in a big towel and then getting his hair washed!

A nice, clean baby all ready to snuggle with Daddy!

Anthony Joseph, A New Child Of God

Look closely on that cake and you'll see that Anthony was baptized 4 weeks ago today, when he was only 4 days old. We didn't want to wait too long, and Palm Sunday and Easter were coming, and my sister was due with her baby 2 weeks after me (Clara Grace, born Mar. 30th!), so we chose to baptize him quickly. And let it be known that I did not do anything to prepare for this after Anthony was born, other than pick out clothes for myself and the kids.

Here is Anthony on his big day, with the first layer on.

He was irresistible to the boys.

And the girls.

All bundled into his carseat.

A view of the now maxed out min-van. Look at those coats. You'd think we were having a blizzard or something.

Well, as a matter of fact, we were! The day before was fine, but we woke up to the above. It was slick, too. We saw one car off the road on the way to the church. And the wind was blowing some good-size drifts. We almost didn't make it through one on the way back home. Unfortunately, the snow kept everyone from my family from coming. You don't exactly expect a blizzard when you are planning a baptism in the second half of March!

When we got to the church and unbundled everyone, I got Anthony ready for his big moment. He is wearing the Brungardt baptism gown and cap, which all our boys have now worn, as well as many cousins. Dan and some of his siblings wore this gown as well.

The pouring of the Holy Water and the words of the priest, and we now have a new little Child of God! A blessed moment! He didn't cry at all during his baptism.

Our family with our parish priest, Fr. Pat York.

Anthony with his proud parents.

The Brungardt family.

Resting after the big event.

How do you get 10 mostly small children to pose for a picture?

Promise them cake, of course! Dan's brother and his family were able to come to the baptism and provided much of the food for the little party afterwards!

Anthony Joseph Brungardt, with a clean soul and that spicy smelling head!

We Interrupt This Baby Story...

...to wish Anthony a Happy One Month Birthday!!

He has started smiling on purpose within the past few days and the other kids get really excited if they see him smile. I do, too!

He weighs approximately 12 pounds now!

Oh, and I have to report that he started rolling over from front to back when he was 3 weeks old!

Now, back to catching up on the last few weeks.

Murphy's Law For Moms, #25

Just when you finally consider yourself caught up on laundry, the baby will have a big blowout, trashing both his outfit and the bassinet sheet.

Bringing Anthony Home!

Mommy did a little photo shoot with Anthony at the hospital while waiting to be dismissed. He is wearing the outfit picked out and bought for him by the kids and I.

A peek at his eyes.

Getting Anthony ready for the ride home in the mini-van (which is maxed out now, by the way!). It always feel like you are going to break an arm the first time you put the new baby in the carseat.

Waiting for the hospital personnel to come take us to the front door. He did not especially like getting buckled in, but then he fell asleep.

Look at those excited faces!

Joseph got mad and started crying because the other kids got to the door before him, so I went over to pick him up. Oh my goodness! I knew it was going to happen, because it does every time you bring the next child home, but Joseph suddenly seemed enormous! He's not the baby anymore.

Welcome home, Baby Anthony!

Our first family picture with the new addition.

The line of waiting children has formed.

Decision Made For Me

When the temperature is going to be between 75 and 80 degrees, there is always that time of day when you have to decide whether to close up the house and turn on the AC or just leave the windows open. Today was one of those days and I was contemplating...

Until something happened which made the decision a no-brainer.

I was putting the boys to bed for a nap when suddenly, and boy do I mean suddenly, there came a very strong skunk odor in through the window. I quickly closed that window and I looked around outside. Seeing no sign of a skunk I then went into the next room where I could not smell it. Until about a minute later. Stinky! It quickly spread to all of the south windows and I ran around the house and closed all of the windows and the AC came on!

I thought skunks were nocturnal. Hmm. Maybe we'll have to play inside today.

Anthony Meets His Siblings

How did you spend St. Patrick's Day? I was in the hospital, enjoying our new little baby, Anthony. Dan went home and brought back our other children so they could meet the baby. Dan said he got a lot of looks and some comments on the way in. I know I always attracted lots of attention anytime I went anywhere with 4 little ones. What will it be like now?

As you can see, the kids were all grins when they saw Baby Anthony. They were so excited!

Joseph could not stop touching Anthony's head.

Catherine was ecstatic to hold Anthony for the first time.

Anne had a turn.

No way was Joseph going to miss out on that!

Dominic said "Awww" about a hundred times while he was there.

I need to just relax with Daddy after all that stimulation!

Baby Anthony

Now that Anthony is 4 weeks old, I am finally getting some more pictures posted on here! After my previous experience with shoulder dystocia during Joseph's birth, my doctor and I were not anxious to wait very long after the baby's due date to deliver the baby. I was due on Mar. 15th and we scheduled an induction for Mar. 17th. I went to the doctor's office on the 16th for my last checkup and everything seemed fine. She did tell me that she thought this baby would be a big one like Joseph.

We went home and 1.5 hours later I started having contractions. I didn't pay too much attention at first because I'd been having so many contractions off and on for the previous week or two. Then I realized that they were 5-7 minutes apart, but I still was reluctant to think it was real, because I'd had so many false alarms. However, less than two hours after they started, I felt a strong pop and quickly realized that my water had broken on its own. Luckily for us, Dan's mom had been there for a week just for this reason, so we were able to dash right off to the hospital.

Wouldn't you know, though, that this would end up being my longest labor. Not that it was that long, by any means, but when your longest previous labor was 4 hours, 7 hours seems long to you. After my extremely painful time with Joseph, I started getting very anxious about the same thing happening this time and I opted for an epidural. Never having had one before, I was really not prepared for the extreme tingling and numbness in my lower half. I got the worst case of restless legs and I could not relax, and I kept trying to hoist myself into a better position. It was crazy! I hated the feeling so much I was ready to let the thing just wear off! I even had Dan turn on the TV so I could try to distract myself. I sort of watched some show about wolves attacking humans. I know, weird! When I used to deliver babies, I always used wonder how women could watch TV while they were in labor. Now I know!

Finally, at about 11:30 I was ready to push and I then realized how very nice it was not to be in so much pain. I didn't even break a sweat! My doctor got there shortly and she offered to let me wait until midnight so he could be born on St. Patrick's Day and I said no way! Within a few minutes, our baby was born. He did not get stuck and I was able to have him up with me right away.

Baby Anthony getting weighed. He weighed exactly 0.1 ounce less than Joseph did. But he was a little longer and his shoulders were not as broad, so no getting stuck!

He did not like getting a bath.

Except for getting his hair washed. He loved that part!

Here are Mommy and baby, ready to go to the postpartum room. He did not have a name at this point. We had had trouble agreeing on a name, and had brought our list of about 10 name choices with us. After things settled down at the hospital, we looked at our names and quickly agreed on Anthony.

Anthony Joseph, all tuckered out and fast asleep.

What My Day Has Been Like

Living Dangerously, Newborn Version

If you have a newborn baby (boy, especially) and you want to live dangerously, all you have to do is fail to have a new diaper ready to go when you take the old one off. Eventually you will be "rewarded."

Murphy's Law For Moms, #24

Unless you scrub your skin raw, the sticky residue left from medical tape will stick to your skin longer than will the remnant of umbilical cord to your newborn.

Presenting...

Anthony Joseph Brungardt
Born March 16th at 11:44pm
Weight: 8#, 15.4ounces
Length: 21.5 inches

Mom and baby are home and doing well.