Newborn Pictures

I'm realizing that I left out a post in between the last couple I did. One very important one was to post some newborn pictures that my very talented sister-in-law Holli took back in June. She is quite the photographer, she had so many fun backdrops and props to use and it was really fun seeing all of her cute ideas. I'm SO happy with the pictures she took. This is quite the feat considering that Tate pretty much screamed the whole time. She was extremely patient and even did 2 different sessions in the same day in order to try and get pictures of Tate when he was in a better mood. We weren't very successful in getting his mood just right, but the pictures turned out darling anyway.

Here are some of my favorites:

I love this one because he's almost smiling - that's about as close as we got during the photo session.


I love this little metal basket - he looked so cute all tucked up inside of it.


This is probably my favorite of the whole session because it's close up and with the backgroud, you can really see his beautiful dark blue eyes.


Holli also had this cute little brown knit hat and it looked so darling on Tate. We were able to snap a few pics of him in it while asleep - look at that chubby face!



Yes, I have a darling little baby and I love all the fun pictures we got of him. Much thanks to my gifted sister-in-law Holli and all the time and effort she put into getting these precious pictures!

Two Week Dr. Appt

Two posts in one day - it's a miracle!

I didn't want to forget to post about Tate's first doctor appointment. Most especially, I wanted to make mention of how much he'd grown in just two weeks.

At birth:
Weight = 9 lbs, 9 ounces
Length = 19 inches



Two days later when we left the hospital:
Weight = 8 lbs, 12 ounces
Length = 19 inches



Two week dr appt:
Weight = 9 lbs, 15 ounces (75th percentile)
Also, at 4 weeks he was up to 11 lbs, 8 ounces!
Length = 22 inches (90th percentile)



So in two weeks he got back to his birth weight + some (which is great according to the doctor!) and grew 3 inches. Yes, we have a big boy on our hands. My arms are getting quite the workout holding and carrying him around. He's so chubby, but we love it! He's my handsome little man Tate!

Brothers

It has been amazing to see how much Tate looks like Zach when he was younger. We have some photos of Zach up in his room and when I compared them to Tate, it was amazing at the similarities. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would guess it was two pictures of the same baby. Here are some pics so you can see for yourself:

Zach at 2 months



Tate at 1 month



No doubt that they are brothers, so chubby and cute! I love my boys!

What do you think?

So FAR Behind!

Life with a newborn sure it different than before! I find that my time is VERY limited and a lot of "unnecessary" stuff sometimes falls off my list of accomplishments for the day.

But as I've been thinking about the blogs I check and how excited I get when I see that they have a new post, I've caught myself in a bit of a double standard since I haven't updated my blog in who knows how long?!?

So in an effort to get caught up, I'm doing one huge post with a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks. Pardon me for all the pictures and the length of this post, I promise I'll try to be better in the future!

Our little angel still sleeps most of the time, although he's started being awake more during the day, much to the delight of his big brother and sister who take every opportunity to talk to him.


He has the cutest little expressions - lately he's been smiling in his sleep all the time - not sure why, but it's darling!


He sleeps a lot in his car seat lately due to some acid reflux issues that he's having and all the milk he's been spitting up. I wouldn't say that he loves the car seat, but he doesn't hate it - so I guess that's the best we can hope for. Even though he's a big boy, he still looks so little in his car seat!


As with almost all babies, he absolutely LOVES his bath! You can almost hear him say "AAAAHHHH" when you put him in.


We've bathed him in both the sink and the tub. He's also had 2 baths with the kids, which they absolutely love! They think it's the neatest to bath with the baby.


He still gets held by his sister as least 10 times a day.


As well as being kissed even more times.


His brother holds him almost as much as his sister does.


Last week, the cousins came down for a play day and they each took a turn holding him. It brought tears to my eyes realizing that they aren't having this same experience with their little sister Jaycee, who passed away back in February. Hailey tells me that although we're all sad, we're going to share our baby with Ashton and Branson (and Aunt Shell) so that they won't be too sad.

Here's his cousin Ashton holding him.


And his cousin Branson.


Although we've had a few setbacks since Tate was born, he is doing great! He loves to lay on the floor and kick his legs.


And I had to include this one - how often does the camera happen to capture something that you couldn't ever repeat even if you tried? Yep, while taking these pictures, I happened to catch Tate spitting up - not the prettiest of pictures, but still cute because he's the cutest baby ever!


Yes, although our lives have turned upside down, it's all in a good way and I can't imagine how we ever got along without our little Tate.

Life At Home With Tate

After a crazy 2 days in the hospital, Jeremiah, Tate, and I were more than ready to come home. After some thorough checking, the doctors pronounced us fit and healthy and signed our release papers, so we headed out with much anticipation.

When we pulled into the driveway, we were surprised with a huge sign posted in the window.


Life since having Tate has been very fun and a little hectic, but that's to be expected with a new little baby in the house. Tate still spends most of his time sleeping, although we do get a peek of him with his eyes open every once in a while. Most of the time he sleeps and the kids are always checking to see if he's awake because they don't want to miss any time of being able to talk to him.


When he does wake up, they are always asking to do one thing and that's hold him. Here are a few pics of the kids holding their favorite little brother.







As you can see, little Tate loves them to hold him just as much as they love to do it. In fact, these pictures are repeated many times a day as they just can't get enough of holding little Tate. And he loves to be around them. If he's crying, all it takes is for one of them to talk to him and he quiets right down and starts looking around for one of them. I think he's just as excited to have them as a big brother and sister as they are to have him.

I've taken a bunch of pictures the last little while, but I'll only include a couple here to show his little personality. Here he is sucking on his finger - he was so darling just sucking away on it one afternoon. Our little chubby baby is always hungry and wants to eat, so he sucks on anything available!


This was his first time in his baby swing. He didn't hate it, so that's good. Both of our other kids would always scream when we put them in the swing - ironic since they now both love to swing on the swingset outside!


And this is one of my favorites. Like I mentioned earlier, he still sleeps a lot, so it's hard to catch him with his eyes open. But I did happen to get this picture one day when Jeremiah was holding him. Isn't he a handsome little man?


Yes, life with Tate has been a bit of an adjustment, but we are all doing well. The kids tell me all the time how much they love their little brother and how special he is. We love you little Tate and are so glad you are a part of our family!

Introducing Tate Kayin Hawks

That's right, after a long 10 months of pregnancy, we are please to announce the arrival of our 3rd child Tate Kayin Hawks. Tate means happy and Kayin is an African name meaning long awaited child.

He was born at the American Fork, Utah Hospital on Thursday June 3rd, 2010 at 7:01 am. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs, 8.5 ounces and measured 19 inches long. That's right, we have a big boy on our hands and man is he ever cute! In case you don't believe me, we got a picture as they weighed him.


Just minutes after he was born (c-section), we were able to get a picture of the 3 of us in the operating room.


Right from the beginning we could tell he was going to be quiet tempered. His cries were not loud or extreme at all, in fact he acted like he cried more out of a sense of obligation than a need.


Here's a good picture to show you how chubby he is - no little scrawny baby for us!


And he has long fingers and long toes. I think I've heard that exact phrase from each doctor when all 3 kids have been born. His little toes are the cutest - see for yourself!


As expected, he's spent most of his time sleeping and through almost any noise - which is amazing if you know our Hailey and how much she loves to talk!



It's hard to look your best after delivering a baby - regular or c-section delivery, but I wanted to get a picture of me with my new little miracle. Don't mind me, we only had to be at the hospital at 5:15am that morning and my looks were definitely not on my list of worries (obviously).


Here he is with his handsome Dad. We're lucky that he's inherited Jeremiah's good looks.


After some time in recovery and Tate getting some needed checking in the hospital nursery, we were finally moved to a room on the Mother and Baby floor. We were quick to call Nana and Papa that were staying with the kids so that they could bring them right over to see their new little brother. Zach was so cute, he was so concerned about his little brother and wanted to make sure he was ok and kept kissing his little head about every 30 seconds.


Hailey was a bit reserved at first. Not because she wasn't excited, but I think the idea of seeing me in the hospital somewhat confined to the bed was a little worrisome for her. She relaxed after being to see us a few times and concentrated on her most important task - asking 100 questions a minute about the baby, me, delivery, hospital, etc. You name it and she asked it. But she couldn't get enough of holding the baby and held him about 20 times each visit.


Nana and Papa both had to take their turn holding little Tate as well.



Aunt Kylie and Uncle Jedd drove down to see the new little one. Kylie's due with her first little one in October, so this was good practice!



Later that evening, Uncle Bubby and Aunt Afton also came down to meet little Tate.



We were lucky enough to be able to go home yesterday afternoon after only 2 days in the hospital. We are adjusting to our new schedule and feel so blessed to have little Tate home healthy and happy. The kids are loving their new little brother so much and don't leave his side for very long. Although they don't quite understand why he cries and what he needs, they are the first ones to help out when needed. They are such a good big brother and big sister - we couldn't ask for better. They are always checking on him and kissing him - it just makes me smile.

We are quite proud of the newest little member of our family. We have waited such a long time for him and we are enjoying every minute of having him. He's such an angel and we just love him so very much.



We all love you little Tate! We're so happy to have you in our family!