Settling In

Here are the four boys in their Sunday best!
Life is getting a little more organized around here. Miles, thankfully, has figured out nursing and is eating well. He's still got his days and nights mixed up, but that seems to be getting a little better as well. Now that he is eating, he is a very pleasant baby and has a lot of "quiet alert" time. He seems very interested in the world around him. The boys love him, a little too much sometimes.
We're finding that "just one baby" can still be very challenging. When we had twins, Gavin was 3 1/2 and went to ECFE once a week. Now, we have to get three boys off to school every morning, plus Gavin's piano lessons, basketball, Scouts. We can't just slum at home all day in pajamas! But we are figuring it out, and life is good right now!

He's Here! Miles Edward Goodson

He's finally arrived--three days late! I was induced on Sunday, March 1, and Miles was born at 5:17pm. He was 21 inches long and weighed a whopping 8 pounds, 8 ounces, HUGE for a Goodson boy. (our previous heavyweight was Trevor at 6 lbs 13 oz).
He wasn't very thrilled with being born, but quickly turned sleepy and refused to nurse or even suck on a finger until he was almost 36 hours old. Now he's figured it out, but he's very erratic. All the other boys would eat whenever they were offered the opportunity, but this child only will nurse when he wants to. Our first night home last night, he nursed a small amount at 1am, refused to nurse anymore, and would not eat again until 6:30. Now that would be great if he had been peacefully sleeping, but no. He was fussy and would not settle down for more than a half hour at a time and spent a lot of time screaming, so Ron especially got very little sleep. We're hoping tonight goes better!
Of course now as I write this, he is very peacefully asleep in his bouncy seat. . .
The boys are thrilled with him and one of our challenges is getting them to leave him alone.
We are very blessed to have this beautiful new little boy in our family. We're very thankful he's healthy and that the birth went well. We'll let you know how life as a family of six turns out!

And the winner is. . .

Gavin! He had a great Pinewood Derby this week with his car, the Black Bullet. He came in first in his den race and then came in second overall! All of his hard work (under Ron's meticulous direction) paid off!

Eagerly Anticipated

Here are the boys and the belly. They can't wait for their new baby brother to come!

What a Difference a Year Makes

Here is a picture of Ron and I on our 15th anniversary last year (Jan 16), which we celebrated in Sanibel Island, Florida.



Here is a picture of the thermometer at our home yesterday morning, Jan 15, about half an hour before I had to send my kids off to school. All I can say is "reality [frost]bites!" (note: the clock on here is wrong--it was 7:30am, not 5:30am)

Christmas in Texas

Seventy degrees for Christmas--I wasn't complaining! I was NOT dreaming of a white Christmas! We felt so blessed to make it to TX. On Friday morning, the day we were supposed to leave, the entire state of Iowa was "travel not advised." By 2 pm, when we left, it was clear, although we did run into icy conditions south of Des Moines and could only really use the right lane. We made it to Bethany, MO, where they had had a half inch of ice (the motel parking lot was a skating rink). The next day, as we headed south to warmer climes, Iowa was socked again by snow. We really had just a little window to get out! Texas was very relaxing, and our long drive was non-eventful. It was nice to see my parents before our lives are changed in February with a new little infant!


Here are the boys with the fort they had built behind my parents' house in November 2007--it had mostly survived the year, including Hurricane Ike! I vote at least one of them goes into architecture!


Here we are outside the Houston Temple, enjoying the sunshine and flowers!



We also celebrated the twins' sixth birthday in TX. How did they get so big?






Of course, it was soon back to reality and Minnesota. But the boys love the snow and sledding. When we drove through Dallas, I happened to see some kids going outside to play, all bundled up in big, puffy coats. I didn't think anything of it for a second, and then I looked at our car thermometer--50 degrees--a real cold spell for Texans! I had to laugh, and when I told the boys, they were amazed--"We'd be wearing shorts at home if it was 50 degrees!" My little Minnesotans.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We did something new this year. We went to Rum River Tree Farm and cut down our own Christmas tree. A nice change from our old K-mart special artificial tree! I think we've found a new family tradition.