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.