Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween! As we had been expecting since all of our kids have now been born 1-2 weeks early, we just had a feeling that Abigail would join us before Halloween this year and would be a tiny little newborn for her first Halloween. And she did! It was great timing since my parents have been visiting all week to help out with Abigail so they got to be here for Halloween as well to see everyone dressed up in their costumes. It also was a fun Halloween since we now have two little guys who were more or less excited about the holiday and one little pretty girl to dress up, too :)

Yesterday morning, we were surprised with a "boo bag" on our porch. Basically, this is when a neighbor anonymously places a bag of Halloween goodies on your doorstep with instructions and a photocopy of a ghost outline. You hang the ghost in your window so that others know you have already been "boo'ed" and then place two treat bags of your own on other people's doorsteps. The bag we received had supplies to make Halloween cupcakes so Nana and I helped the boys make these yesterday. What fun they had!

Here they are decorating their treats...

And the finished product!

Daddy and Pop also helped the boys carve a pumpkin last night. This was the first pumpkin that we have ever carved with the boys and they had a fun time. They (surprisingly) did not want to reach inside the pumpkin to take out the seeds and membranes, but they did have fun playing with the pieces of pumpkin that were removed as it was being carved.

Here they are with the pumpkin before surgery took place...

LOL, Andrew doesn't look too pleased with the paparazzi taking photos of him while trying to carve!

The boys had a great time with their finished pumpkin...

Finally, some photos from today of the boys in their costumes and Abigail in her little Halloween outfit. Pop and Daddy took the boys trick-or-treating in the late afternoon. It was rainy and gross out all day but luckily there was a small window of calm weather after their naps so they were able to go. Nate mastered saying "trick-or-treat" and walked almost the entire time (up one side street). Ben was so excited to go around getting treats!

Ben dressed up as an orangutang this year and Nate was a blue monster. He called himself "Cookie" (aka Cookie Monster) and we just let him believe that's who it was, even though it was just a generic friendly monster.

There go the boys, off to trick-or-treat!

While the men trick-or-treated, the ladies stayed home and Abigail was center of attention. Here's the princess all dressed up in her Halloween outfit from Pop and Nana. I LOVE the little ruffly pants!

Nana and Abby pose for a Halloween photo together in their black and orange outfits.

And the boys are back... I couldn't believe that Nate wanted to walk most of the time! Ben had already scurried into the house to have one of his treats by the time I grabbed my camera...

Finally, the three siblings pose for one last Halloween picture before bed, of course in their Halloween pajamas!

Siblings

Well, I've been home from the hospital for four days now and between nursing the baby and resting, I've been having so much fun taking some photos of the kids, especially now that we have three siblings to include in our pictures. Of course the two silly big brothers always give us a good laugh. Here they are after eating a messy dinner. Nate always declares "Oh no, a mess!" whenever he's really messy. So, we had walked away from the table, heard him say this and next thing we knew Ben had taken his shirt off in a fit of complete silliness...and of course Nate copied his big brother!

Oh no, I couldn't possibly show my face to the paparazzi when I'm so indecent...


Well, ok, maybe just for a few minutes!

Our two silly little nudies...

Our first official sibling shot of Abigail and her two big brothers. Both Ben and Nate really are doing very well holding her, kissing her and even fighting over who gets to hold her first! That is, until they get tired of it and just decide to start getting up! So, we have to always be on guard - lol!

Sleeping Beauty

After a few nights of not wanting to sleep (at all! literally.), Abigail has gotten used to being on her back and sleeping in her crib, bouncy seat, swing and Boppy. I just love sleeping photos of babies, they always look so sweet and peaceful. Here's our little Sleeping Beauty...

Welcome, Abigail Nancy!

We are delighted to introduce the newest member of the Martin family, Abigail Nancy Martin. She was born 8 days early on Sunday, October 25th at 6:43a.m. after only about 5 hours of "true" labor. They say each child tends to arrive faster than the last and as our third child, this is certainly true! The actual delivery of Abigail was only about 7 minutes this time. Literally. She was there before we knew it and took both us and the doctors by surprise at her quick appearance!

Abigail - "Father's joy" - is a name that Andrew and I have both always loved and as such a classic, biblical name, it seemed perfect for our beautiful daughter. We will call her both by her full name and also Abby as a nickname. Her middle name - Nancy - is in honor of Andrew's mom who passed away in 2003 from cancer.

Abby was 7lbs. 6oz. at birth and 20 1/2 inches long. She has a beautiful complexion and dark hair, although ironically, not as much hair as either of the boys had at birth. Certainly enough that she will be able to wear barettes in a few months, though :)

And now, introducing Baby Abby. She definitely has her days and nights mixed up at this point but is just such a sweet, calm baby for the most part. We are delighted that she is here and thank God for her safe delivery and health!

Just after her birth, getting weighed in. Our kids defy the usual norm that each subsequent baby tends to get heavier; ours get lighter by about 1/2 pound each. She is our lightest by far, over a pound lighter than Ben and about a half pound lighter than Nate at birth.



Wow, that was tough work being born so quickly!


Her cute little tuft of hair on top of her head!

After a few hours of rest, Dad, Mom and Abby were taken by storm by the big brothers when Nana and Pop took them down to the hospital for their first visit with their sister. Both boys have been so good with her so far and are really loving and gentle. Of course they love to smother her with kisses and hold her all the time!

Biggest brother Benjamin meets Abigail for the first time...

And the newest big brother Nate meets his baby sister....He is quite the talker and has already mastered saying her full name! Here, he is saying "Hi, Abigail!" since he had been practicing with Nana before the visit...

Nana with her first grand-daughter.

Pop and Nana posing with Baby Abby.

Our perfect little gift from God...

Me and my little girl. I'm happy there will be some more estrogen in the house from now on!

Daddy's girl...

Maggie and Billy came to visit us in the hospital to meet Abigail. She loved being held by Maggie the whole time!

On Tuesday morning, here we are all ready to go home after two nights in the hospital. Of course she is dressed in pink and brown, my favorites!

Mommy and Daddy and our new little daughter!

Ready to go!

Once at home, the big brothers loved on their little sister (instead of taking their naps that day!). Ben wanted to hold her and Nate kept coming up in her face and saying "Hi, Abigail!" So precious....

Our new family of five! I can't believe that we have THREE children now!

Just a few more pictures from Abby's first full day at home. Here she is resting in her bouncy seat...

...and here she is during her first sponge bath. Apparently, this is the worst experience of her entire life so far :)

But after the bath wasn't so bad. Ah, all clean-smelling and changed into a new outfit!

...and she's back to resting again. We're working on her sleeping habits little-by-little. At first she would not even sit in a bouncy seat or swing but she seems to be getting used to them for a little while at a time. Laying in her crib is another story, though. She's not too into sleeping in her actual crib and would prefer to be held instead so this will be our challenge for the next few weeks as we transition Abby to life outside the womb :)

We love having visitors so please come and see us and meet our new little princess!