Welcome Dustin Thayne!

My sister finally had her baby boy on Thursday! I say finally because she was due on February 18th and thought that he was going to come early for awhile... but he decided to be very patient.

Dustin Thayne Harris was born at 5:05am on February 26th. He weighed 8 lbs, 11oz and was 21 3/4 inches long. He lives all the way in Arizona, so it will be awhile until we get to see this little guy in person. Dustin joins his brothers Evin and Braxton, and sister Quinlan, as Harris baby #4. We happily now have 9 nieces and nephews.

With Tanna and Dustin here, we're just waiting for the Stutzmans to have little Caleb and our trio of important babies will all have arrived. Come on Caleb... well, okay, wait until it's time... (come on March 19th!)

Dustin is a handsome little man... we are excited to learn more about him. Congratulations Harris family!

Another Parental First

Well, I knew it would eventually happen... but I kind of hoped that we had gotten lucky by missing all major stomach bugs with children to small to know how to aim. Wrong!

I came down with a stomach flu on Wednesday night. It was scary bad. I got to skip my blood pressure medication on Thursday because I was so sick and the nurse said that my volume would be depleted anyway, so I should be fine for a day. Well, I was a little concerned when my blood pressure readings reached 88/62. I tried everything to stay hydrated but it got really difficult. I even drank tons of Gatorade - and I don't like Gatorade! (Although I am finding there are a couple flavors that aren't so bad, it's just a little sweeter than I'm used to!) Even now, days later, my blood pressure is still super low. (91/72 a few minutes ago.) And I know I'm really hydrated now, but today was the first day that I was able to handle any food beyond applesauce, goldfish crackers, bananas and toast. Anyway, I started to feel really good today and got really excited at the prospect of visiting little Tanna in the hospital. I even ate a steak from Applebee's for dinner. I was a little afraid to try something so bold, but it was super tasty!

Then, at 11 tonight Charlie got up to go to the bathroom. Afterwards he wanted to cuddle on the couch with me, and I let him up because he was being so cute. After about 15 minutes he started to kick me and kind of twist around. So I asked him if he was okay. He said no, and then about 2 seconds after I said, "Can you tell Mommy what's wrong?" He started throwing up. Everywhere, (but mostly on me.) Pepperoni pizza. And that's probably more detail than you want, but I'll give you just one more. I have never seen that much yuckiness produced in one session ever in my memory.

Luckily Andy was still awake, and as I set to clean off Charlie, Andy went to work on the couch, clothes, bathroom (we had moved there during a lull), and carpet. It was so bad that I gave Charlie a quick bath, I didn't want to leave him in the water long after he'd just been so sick. And since we've been working on the tablespoon of water every 10 minutes recommended by the nurses line... and I've now taught him how to aim. I just really hope that he does not get as sick as I was. Man, I wouldn't mind never having to live through that again!

Welcome Tanna Zaniewski!

We are so happy for our very good friends Matt and Candice today! They welcomed their first daughter at 1:31 this morning, after a very long and hard couple of days. Tanna Danielle Zaniewski weighed 8 lbs 5 oz, and from the pictures I have seen, is absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately, I have germs and couldn't go see her in the hospital today! I am hoping that tomorrow will be a different story. We can't wait to meet her.

Congratulations Matt and Candice!

Music Man

Charlie is turning out to be quite the musician. We gave him a Little Einsteins drum set for his birthday, and I think it may have been his favorite present. It came with a drum, maracas, a tambourine and castanets. One of his favorite games to play now is “Marching Band”. We each chose an instrument and march around the house to whatever beat Charlie chooses. The most funny part is his march... It reminds me of Hitler-era Germany.

Then for Christmas Santa brought both Charlie and Lynnae a harmonica for their stockings. They both love them! A few days after Christmas we were over at Grandpa Kovar’s, and they put on a harmonica concert for us. Charlie really gets into it!

It is cute to see Charlie picking up interests of his very own. We’re waiting to see what he likes next!

Storytelling

Another thing that Charlie has recently started doing is telling stories. Here are three he has told me in the last hour.

1) Once upon a time there was a doggie named Baby Mommy Charlie Cat. And it was crying. It went to preschool like a bird. There was an elephant behind the other elephant. It was a match. There was an elephant crying. It made a tower.

2) Once upon a time there was a boy named Charlie 3. Not number 3. The elephant making me crying. When I'm 3 years old.

3) Once upon a time there was a hammer. The hammer started to cry. Because it was a loud noise. The hammer started to cry when it was on the dog. The hammer stopped crying and listened to me. I said, "Stop crying and listen to me! Knock knock."
Hammer: "Who's there?"
Charlie: "Boo"
Hammer: "Boo who?"
Charlie: "Don't cry hammer, it's just a joke."
And the hammer was laughing now.

Quinlan's 3rd Birthday

My niece Quinlan turned 3 on December 27th. Because we were all in Vista that day, Daja planned the celebration for the 28th. This also happened to be the day that my parents were having the missionaries for dinner. So, on top of having all of the Boyce’s there, Quinlan also got two additional guests. I wonder what their thoughts were when they walked in on a big birthday party? Poor Andy was still at the hotel with the stomach flu, but my tummy was just getting back to normal so I brought Lynnae and Charlie over to join in on the fun.

The kids enjoyed the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs, and then we all watched Quinlan methodically blow out each of her three candles, one at a time. Afterwards she opened her presents... Carefully saying thank you for each one, often before she even opened it. The kids all had a good time playing... It is fun to be able to share Quinlan’s birthdays with her since they are so close to Christmas!

Flying

One of my nephews got a pretty neat remote controlled airplane for Christmas. Andy, Russ, Lynnae, Braxton, Jordan and Quinlan took it out flying in an open field just before dusk a couple of days after Christmas. (The rest of us hung back at Grandma’s house to relax... Aka sleep.)

Andy took the camera and got some neat pictures... It looks like they all had a lot of fun!