Thomas in the big brother role (+ first visitors!)

Thomas arrived Saturday afternoon very excited to meet his little brother. (And singing "happy birthday" since he and Ed arrived at the same time as mom and dad, who came with gifts!)

So far, TJ has been pretty gentle with little J, though he wants to touch his eyes and kiss his head as much as possible. It's very sweet to watch!

In this picture, one of many outtakes while trying to successfully get a good picture of the 4 of us, TJ is telling little J to "look at Grammy" (who was holding the camera), since that's what we'd been telling him. He also later offered Josiah a bite of his pizza. :)

One of many head kisses

Love this look of wonder!

Grammy and Boppa had a long trip--we called them at 6 am to tell them a baby was on the way. They left the cottage, headed back to Milwaukee to pick up stuff from the house, and then headed to St. Louis (not the most direct route!). They were thrilled to meet grandson #2 while also having a few more days to play with and spoil grandson #1. We are thrilled they could get here so quickly and that they're two more pairs of hands to help with the transition from one spirited child to one spirited child plus one fragile newborn!

And also, a special thanks to our friends Rusty and Melanie, who came over at 4 am to be with Thomas while we headed to the hospital!

Introducing...

Josiah Edward Ruble

Welcomed with love

born 8/13/11

7:21 am

7 lbs. 7 oz.

20-1/4" long

All sacked out on his first day. This is how he spent most of the day. Hopefully it's how he'll spend most of the first night as well!

About 2 hours old. He looks huge here, partly I think because of the angle of the photo. He's actually a half pound smaller than Thomas when he was born. He had a rushed entry into the world and is a little bruised and bloodshot, but that's fading already.

Me and Josiah after we're both rested up a bit

Ed and Josiah, again after some rest!

Our new little family of 4. T is quite enamored with him...

more pics to follow showing them together.

Last pregnant picture...4:30 am

I woke up with contractions at 1 am, we arrived at the hospital around 5 am, my water broke at 7:15 am and he flew out (as in the doctor had to move fast to catch him!) at 7:21 am. Whew!

Productive Week

Thomas spent a week with Grammy and Boppa in Milwaukee/at Pearl Lake, and Ed and I used the week to get alot of things done around the house and have some grown-up meals out to eat. We'd decided to do some rearranging of rooms in the house because with #2 coming, baby gear/toys were threatening to overtake the house! The result? A much more kid-friendly layout downstairs and a cozy hangout for us upstairs.

Here are some before and after pics:

family room, before

Playroom, after--so much more room for playing!

My office, before

The not-so-pretty cleaning and sorting process in my office

The upstairs den, after. This may be our new favorite place in the house--so cozy for watching tv and hanging out at night.

(My office is temporarily in my studio and will be going up into the mini 3rd floor/attic after maternity leave.)

T's room...moved the crib to a different wall to make room for a big-boy bed that we'll be getting soon. We also have most of the baby stuff washed and ready!

We also celebrated Ed's 34th birthday (with apple pie, of course)!

Mom brought Thomas back on Monday and then stayed a few days to help with organizing and sorting--we (really she) made wonderful progress! Thanks mom! And thanks mom and dad for entertaining Thomas for the week--I know he had a great time! :)

Last weekend at the lake (for a bit)

Matt and Di came down from Chicago to enjoy our last weekend at the lake, pre-baby. So glad they could come, especially on a weekend when the Cooks were here too, since that hasn't worked out the last two years. It was another HOT weekend (what else is new?) with alot of time spent in the water.

Matt was Thomas' unofficial playground and rumpus-er for the weekend. He (Matt) slept on the blow-up mattress in the main room, and T would wake him up and immediately start jumping on him. Matt also got his workout in with some Thomas ups (shown above) and kindly helping Ed pull weeds at the property.

Don't these two look like they're up to no good here? They were actually playing nicely!

Me and Di on our sunset cruise

An unplanned swim during the evening boat ride = nakey swim! Watch out for the strap wedgie...

Last picture of the six of us...next time we're together there will be one more.

And the last supper. Tons of smoked pork loin, corn, and homemade mac & cheese, plus key lime pie for dessert. Yum!

Ed relaxing at his newly cleared (and sandy) beach at the property! Thomas headed back to Chicago with Dustin, Kelly and Abbey (to rendezvous with mom and dad and spend a week in Milwaukee!), so Ed and I took a swim at the new beach before heading back to St. Louis for a productive and peaceful week on our own.

There's a baby coming to live at the house...

We've been trying to prepare Thomas for the baby's arrival, but beyond zerberts and kisses to my belly, we figured most of it was going over his head. Now we're starting to think otherwise.

The other day I encountered the scene above. He wanted to put a diaper on the "baby" bear.

So I helped him. He's also started telling me (and other people): "There's a baby coming to live at our house..." I think we're on the right track!

Kathy comes to the lake

All three of us had a great time with Kathy this weekend. The warm (okay, ridiculously hot) weather of late meant that the water temperature was a balmy 92. I've taken cooler baths than that! But it was still cooler than the air, so we spent plenty of time just floating and relaxing.

Wearing sunglasses on the boat

A Sunday morning ski for Kathy

Thomas really got into swimming this weekend. He swam back and forth between the three of us without anyone holding onto him, and he willingly floated on his back and even kicked to swim while on his back! Still not a fan of putting his head under though.

Keeping cool in the lake

When Thomas wasn't in the water, he was in the cooler. Frequently demanding "Close it up!" (hence the frown on his face in the picture above--I delayed in closing it up while taking the photo!) When it's closed, you need to knock on the side of the cooler, and then he'll kick it open with his feet.

Ed rented a skid steer to move some earth at the property. T, of course, loved it. He is an expert on different construction vehicles and frequently corrects me when I name them wrong. We went to visit daddy and watch him work.

Sitting with daddy on the skid steer

Family pics

My friend Kathy came to Mattoon this weekend and I recruited her to take some family maternity shots...sort of a last opportunity to capture our family of three. She did a fantastic job! Here are my favorites...