My Two Babies: A Blessing and a Baptism

Last month was a big one for our family...

Thornton Family

L-R: Michelle & Chris, Mom and Dad, Jen, Jeff, Melissa, Blake & Ellis, MY FAMILY, Coco, Daniel & Carter, Grandpa Jerry (my kids' great-grandpa).

On October 10th, We blessed this little man when he was 6 weeks old.

It was a great day

Little D has us wrapped around his tiny fingers!

I can hardly keep myself from eating him...SO YUMMY!

Look how big my little guy looks now...already almost 3 months old

And some more big news...Our first baby Madison got baptized also on Oct. 10th. here she is having her first interview with our fabulous Bishop Hazen!

We're so proud of her and the beautiful, sweet young girl she has become...

Here is the proud Daddy and his little girl...growing up too fast!

I love this girl so much...she is such a great kid. She has many divine gifts, one of which is being inherently good and pure in heart, always wanting to do what is right. Ever since she was a little tiny girl, she's had a very sensitive conscience, feeling bad about the smallest misdeeds, and always wanting to set things right and please her Heavenly Father.

Madie was lucky to be baptized on the same day as her good friend, Emily Clifford. My sweet friend Rachel (Emily's aunt) spent a whole afternoon taking these beautiful photos of the girls! Thanks so much, Rach.

We want to thank everyone who came to support our family for these two important events! We had many friends and family members come from all over So. California for us...to name a few: Grandpa Jerry, Mom & Dad, Papa Paul, The Keslers, The McGregors, The "other" Weenigs, The Pittmans, The Meisenbachs, The Carliles, Aunt Jen, Uncle Jeff, The Lambournes, Connie & Jan Krc, and many friends from right here in San Marcos!

Finally some Thornton cousins!

These are all the boy cousins on the Thornton side of the family...

Owen 2 1/2, Carter (Coco's) 4 months, Ellis (Melissa's) 6 weeks, Drew (mine) 10 days

Don't they look excited to be hanging out on the bed together taking pictures? Owen was like, "SERIOUSLY?! I have no pants on and these guys are screamin' their heads off..."

My parents FINALLY have some more grandkids! For the last 7 1/2 years they have had only one family of grandkids to spoil, but this summer 3 new baby boys came into the picture, starting with Nichole and Daniel's sweet little Carter, then followed by Melissa and Blake's adorable little Ellis, and trailing behind was our own little peanut, Drew! It's been so FUN to see each of them in different stages, see how they change, who they look like, and getting to see my sisters as mothers!

Babysitters Madie and Avery were pretty "fried" after so many pictures and the two littlest babies "protesting" the whole time!

Little Drew sleeping peacefully, 3 weeks old

Taking a bath in Mommy's sink, 4 weeks old...

"Aw Mom, no more naked pictures!"

We love our little peanut head!

Little Man Drew!

Here he is!

Drew Marcus Weenig

Born August 26, 8:26 pm

8 lbs. 3 oz

20 1/2 inches

We went to the hospital Wednesday morning at 7:00 to be induced (so that Daddy, who travels every week, could attend). But around lunch time, we found out that our little stunt-man had turned himself sideways, which meant that his cord was dangling underneath him and in danger of slipping out before he did...So we were given the option to either have the doc TRY to turn him (again, the cord position made this kinda risky), OR go ahead and schedule a c-section. Well, this being my fourth baby (the rest were normal deliveries), of course I was NOT thrilled at this idea...But I decided I'd rather plan for the c-section and have it all be calm and anticipated than have the doc try to turn him and have it turn into an emergency situation. So here is Daddy, all ready in his bunny suit to watch the birth...he looks like he works for HAZMAT or something.

Walking into the unkown...a little nervous

Marcus watched the whole procedure (eyes bulging, constantly checking my face for a reaction to what the doctors were doing to me). He seemed concerned, intrigued, anxious, and excited...And I just laid there waiting to see that my baby was ok. Once he was ready to get the baby out, Doc couldn't figure out where his head was (he moved AGAIN)...so he quickly grabbed him by the feet and out came Little Houdini! He had managed to flip so much he got his cord tied in a knot (WHEW--so glad we decided not to try to turn him and deliver normally)! It all happened pretty fast, and the surgery was painless thanks to good drugs...but I knew the worst was yet to come...

It was kinda strange seeing my baby for the first time while lying on my back...I had to keep telling Marcus to "hold him up--I can't see him"...

I can already tell our Drew is going to be the life of the party--always keeping us in anticipation of his next move!

Proud Daddy and "Baby No-name"

This little guy is worth all the trouble and even the rough recovery.

Big Brother Owen is the only sibling who got to come see Little Drew in the hospital--the girls got sick with fevers (yea, it's been an interesting week) while at home awaiting his arrival with Grandma (MUCH thanks to my mom for handling everything at home for 4 days!)

Check out those rolls...He was our biggest baby by FAR.

Big Sis. Madie can't be happier that he is HOME!

Avery's so excited to help take care of him.

WE LOVE YOU BABY DREW! WELCOME TO THE WORLD!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU so much to everyone who has offered their help and for all the yummy meals...we couldn't have survived this crazy time without all the help from our family and friends!

The Graduate

We're so proud of Avery...she graduated from Raggedy Ann and Andy Preschool and she's moving on to kindergarten! It was so cute--the kids sang a cute little song about all they learned and shook their teacher's hand as they received their certificate.

I could tell she was excited, but she wouldn't let anyone see her smile...

She had the cutest bunch of friends (a lot from church) that made her days at school sooo much fun! They had lots of fun parties and activities--of course who could forget digging for "gems" in the sandbox everyday!

Avery was so excited for her big sister to come watch her graduation! She can't wait to be at the same school as Madie.

Mommy and Daddy love you little Munchkin--can't believe you'll soon be off to school EVERYDAY! I'll miss hanging out with you and playing games by ourselves when Owen is napping.

(Mom trying to hide her big belly--2 more months!)

We are ALL so glad we got to come see you graduate, little Avery! We love you so much.

Rewind: Spring Break trip to Warner Springs!

OK, so this is from like FOUR months ago...

We decided to get out of town for a quick trip with the kids to Warner Springs back in April...

The kids LOVED the little "cabin" we stayed in and couldn't control their excitement when it was time for bed! Then they were up at "0-dark-hundred hours" ready to explore the grounds...(I do NOT recommend sleeping in one room with three kids and a dog who was nervous all night)

Good thing they're so cute!

We went to breakfast at the golf club (Avery was cold and couldn't part with the blanket)

The kids absolute FAVORITE activity was riding the sweet pony "Toby-Boy"! It was a first for Avery and Owen, and the only time Madie remembers getting to ride a horse...

Of course we swam in the pool and the hot springs (the girls had a hard time getting over the rotten-egg smell of the sulfur in the water), but I still couldn't keep their pink little bodies out of the hot water!

Kids under 3 aren't allowed in the hot springs ( a bit of a challenge keeping Owen out of there when he just wanted to be with his dad and big sisters). Good thing Marcus and the girls eventually joined us in the "cold pool"...

We only had to drive like an hour, but it felt like we were far from home and city-life! We played games in the lodge at night and played hard outside all day...It was a great over-night trip! Thanks honey.

Playin' in the dark and "stick yoga"

Ok, so I know, I know... I stink at this blog thing.  I only feel like writing something when i have pictures to go with it.  Anyway, after more than a month, here are a few cute pictures of the kids playing out in front of our house...As you can see it's getting pretty dark in this picture, but everyone was happy and getting along so I opted for letting them stay outside 'til we couldn't see anymore (especially poor Avery with her "good eye" patched) and feeding my monkies some frozen nuggets (with a side of veggies)...but see how HAPPY they are?

They all LOVE riding Daddy's longboard, so why not form a train and use this PVC pipe as an oar to push you along!  Owen kept on pulling on the girls and they would all fall off laughing...

Here's my handsome little trouble-maker! Just look at that FACE (and that belly)!

 

NO we haven't enrolled the girls in a pole-dancing class...they were doing "yoga" with these sticks for "exercise".  They were sooo serious about it that I had to laugh in secret behind the book I was reading!

This move is called "stab yourself in the crotch with the stick"--that could REALLY hurt.  Guess if I was any cautious mom, I would've told my GIRLS not to play with those sticks while extending their legs like that.  They were too entertaining though...I love when they come up with these RANDOM activities and Avery totally follows along as if what Madie is instructing her to do is completely legit!

Our little runners and "who's laughing now?"

Ok so this is old news, but earlier this month, the girls ran in the Carlsbad Junior kids' run.  This was Madie's 3rd year doing the run.  She's had so much fun doing it each year and she's always so proud of herself after she finishes...BUT, as you can see here, she gets really nervous before the race and always stresses out that we are going to be late and miss it! 

Here's our little worried runner--she did AWESOME and was among the first set of kids to finish...

After they run, the kids get a medal and some free samples of healthy foods--like Jamba Juice!  Madie was super happy after she finished her run and was so eager to go cheer on Avery!  This was Avery's FIRST year running...

Here are the girls running together cause Madie was worried that we wouldn't be able to find Avery when she was done (they hold the younger ones in a big pen until their parent shows up with the matching race number).  It was so sweet of Madie to run another 1/2 mile with her little sister after already running 1 mile pumped full of adrenaline!  Owen and I ran half the way with them (Owen was strapped in of course), then Marcus met them at the half point and cheered them on.

Here's little Avery running with the five-year-olds (before she even turned 5).  As you can see, lots of the kids were much bigger than she was!  Marcus and Madie let her run the last 200 yards by herself.  We're so proud of you--way to go Avery!

It was so fun watching you at the finish line Madie...Great job for running the whole way!

Avery loved participating this year like she's watched her big sister do these last few years.  I know she felt good about finishing on her own...AND she also RAN THE WHOLE WAY (surprised us all).  But I think her favorite part was probably the Jamba Juice and cookies!

After the race we drove up to OC to meet some old friends and we stopped at our favorite burger joint--A's Burger!  They have the YUMMIEST fried zucchini!

Owen of course ate a whole meal of ketchup with a side of fries!

Marcus dared Madie to eat a whole jalapeno pepper and promised to take her to the movies if she did!

Poor thing--here she is with the whole thing in her mouth...She'll do anything her Daddy asks her to!

And here's sympathetic little Avery laughing her head off that Madie's mouth is on fire! 

Owen doesn't have a CLUE what they're laughing about, but it sure was hilarious...

Then it was Avery's turn--she was only motivated by the movie and didn't want to miss out--nothin' to do with pleasing her Daddy! 

Not so funny now, eh?

After A's burger, we drove through the car wash...guess my kids haven't experienced that one too often.  They were soooo excited and Owen still begs to go to the car wash every time we go under a freeway overpass or anything that  resembles a tunnel...

That was a really FUN day!