Megan + cousins + kayak= a good weekend!

Kelsey was helping Megan get every thing set so Megan could kayak. She has been out by herself a few times (always in shallow water with someone close by) but this was Labor Day weekend and there were lots of boats on the lake causing lots of waves. Megan didn't want to kayak by herself so...

...Kelsey bells took her out in the kayak! I think they both had fun.

I think Megan will enjoy kayaking for years to come, look at her smile.

So this is where Caila was at. Tough call, holding Joey or going out in a kayak...Joey won!

I think it funny that Joey has his eyes open and Kelsey is a sleep. I guess it was a fun filled weekend for everyone.

Joey's first real bath.

Megan was super excited when Joey's cord fell off, because she knew that meant she could take a bath with him.

He was content for a few moments.

Megan wanted to show Joey how she washed her hair. Joey liked looking at his sister during his content moments :)

"Hmm, I'm not sure about this" Really this picture wasn't snapped right before he started flailing his arms and screaming.

After screaming for a bit, bath time was over and Joey was snugly warm in his Daddy's arms.

Someone had a birthday

***I am typing this while holding a sleeping baby that is having belly issues, so expect some typos. And yes I know I have typos in most of the posts, but these typos can be blamed on Joey:)
Megan was super excited to open this big box from Grandma-great. When she got the wrapping off, we said "Alright you got a coffee maker!" Then Megan jumped up and down saying, "yay. yay, yay a coffee maker!" Really...a 4 year old is excited for a coffee maker!?! Then we told her we were kidding and had her open the box.

"It's a pillow...it's a pet...it's a pillow pet!" Yes Megan sang that as soon as she knew it was a pillow pet.

I think she hugged her pillow pet for about 20 minutes then it went where ever we went. Now she sleep son it every night.

When all of her cousins were in town we had another celebration at Grandma and Papa's house. Conary had Megan and Liam by his side the whole weekend. Here they are during a boat ride cuddled up with Conary.

Another fun game for Megan.

Time to make her cake! Not sure how many kids help make their own birthday cake, but Megan needed mom time, since Joey was 2 weeks old, so we made her cake together.

Let's decorate! Can anyone guess what her cake was?

Joey heard that we had the chocolate chips out, so he wanted to help decorate.

I think she likes her watermelon cake! Not bad for a box mix, canned frosting, oh and for having a 2 week old baby in the house! I will always make their birthday cakes fun, no matter how tired I might be.

The car seat is not a toy!

Because Joey's infant car seat was in the house, Megan just assumed she could play with it when Joey wasn't in it. She would sit in it, rock and tip over. She would carry it around and adjust all of the straps to fit her stuffed animals. After about a couple days we had to tell her that it was not a toy and she could not touch it. So to make up for all of the new "no don't do that" or "stop, be careful" I had my mom take Megan out to buy her own "baby" stuff.

Megan came home with a new baby doll, a car seat and a diaper bag filled with lots of little plastic bottles that are meant to mimic all of the potions and lotions real babies have. As you can see from her smile, she is a very happy mom!

Not sure if she was going to a walk or going to the grocery store, either way, Megan was having a lot of fun taking care of her baby.

Megan wanted her baby to have it's picture taken with Joey's tiger too. Right after I took this picture Megan looked at her baby doll and said "You just had your first tiger picture, isn't that so cool!?!"

With her new "mommy skills" Megan wanted to help Daddy change Joey's diaper. A.K.A. Megan got the diaper for Daddy and watched him do the rest. But if you ever ask her, she will tell you that she can change a diaper and does it all the time :)

Joey's first "tiger" pictures

Welcome to the first of many pictures with Joey and his tiger. I started when Megan was a newborn taking pictures of her with an elephant pillow. Every month I would take another picture with the same pillow so we could see how she grew month to month. After looking for another fun animal to use for Baby #2, I finally found this cool and expensive tiger.

Here is Joey at 4 days old. His birth weight was 8lbs 2oz and he was 20 1/2 inches. I love this picture because he is still so tightly balled up which makes him look so tiny!
Not a bad picture of a 4 day old baby! Just look how big his hands are...he is going to be a big boy if he is going to grow into his hands. (wow that sounds wrong, but that is how the phrase goes, so that what I typed!)
Not the best picture, I just liked how his little legs were crossed :)

Meeting the family

Mark holding his son. I know Mark would have been happy with a boy or a girl, but I think that he was very happy to have a son. A boy and a girl, what more can a Dad ask for!?!

Here's Grandma Berthold holding Joey for the first time. It doesn't take long before you fall in love with him.

Grandpa Berthold holding hi first grandson. I'm sure he was already thinking about what sports Joey will play and how much fun it will be to watch him grow up.

Grandma and Papa Schutte meeting their 8th grandchild! Even though Joey is their 8th, Joey is also a first for them. He is the first grandchild that will pass along with Schutte name!

You think I would forget about Baron meeting his brother for the first time!?! Baron licked him and then walked away. Baron isn't nearly as antsy as he was when we brought Megan home.

One proud Grandma-great meeting the next most important Joseph in her life. I think she likes him!

Caila couldn't get enough of Joey. We had to get a timer going to all of the kids could have a turn holding him.

I think I said it on the car ride out to the lake that Kelsey was going to be the one that wouldn't leave Joey's side...I was right! Even when it wasn't her turn to hold him, she still sat next to him just looking at him. She had so many questions about babies it was very cute. I can see Kelsey being Joey's buddy for a long time.

Well I think the cousins like him. Joey was sound asleep and he had all of his cousins just watching him.

Grandma and Papa Schutte with all of their grandkids. Conary turned 14 the day before Joey was born so their is a pretty good range of ages in this bunch. But we all know that their is something special about cousins, so it will be really fun to watch them all grow and play over the years.

Here comes a big sister!!!

Megan spent the night before with my parents and she was so excited when she found out she was a big sister and that she had a brother! (she always said she wanted a brother) Here she is with Daddy and her very new little brother, Joey.

And as you can see the excitement of having a baby brother didn't last long, at least not when there is an iphone to play with! Personally, I think Grandma Berthold gave her the iphone so she could hold Joey without interruptions!

Big sister holding her baby brother all by herself!

Wardrobe change...while I was nursing Joey everyone left the room and took a tour of the hospital. Megan played in the kids area for a bit and then went to the gift shop. There she found a "Big Sister" t-shirt. So when she came back to the room she walked in wearing her shirt just as proud as can be. And she still wears the shirt just as proudly!

Priceless!

Megan was so tired after 2 nights at Grandma and Grandpa's house plus the excitement of Joey that she was in tears after leaving the hospital on Day 2. She didn't want to go back to Grandma's house because she wanted to be home when Joey got there. So the compromise was that if she went home she couldn't get off the couch and she had to sleep. This is how we found her when Mark and I brought Joey home for the first time.

She can't get enough of him!

The first night Joey was home, Megan wanted to read him a bedtime story :) All of us were cuddled in Megan's room, a cute little family of 4 (5 if you count Baron) and read the first of many books to Joey. This "tradition" has continued every night since and I love it!

Welcome Joseph Bradley Schutte

Welcome to the world, Joseph Bradley Schutte. This picture was taken when he was about a minute old, Mark and I were already in love with him so much! The labor was another interesting story, that if you want to hear, you can ask me! But I will share that he was born before Dr. Birbeck could get there!

Mark and I had a boy's name picked out pretty much as soon as we started talking about names during out first pregnancy. Since we had Megan, we still had our boy's name waiting to be used. Joseph is named after the most amazing man I have ever known, my grandpa Joe Berthold. I know that he would be honored to know that his first great-grandson was named after him. The one time I cried after Joey was born, was after saying his name for the first time. I miss my grandpa so much and having Joey makes me feel like my grandpa (his great-grandpa) is always with us.

Wow! I was expecting a baby closer to Megan's size, 6lbs 9oz. But Joey was 8lb 2oz, 1 1/2 lbs bigger! That is a big difference but he still seemed so tiny!

Love this picture!