Scooty McScooterson is 4 months old! (Tomorrow)

A day shy of four months old, our little Leo Peo checked in healthy and happy at his doc appointment yesterday. He's 25.5" long and weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs. and 6oz. Although he started day one smaller than his big sibs, he's working hard to catch up to them! He fussed, but quickly got over the sticks of vaccines. I hate shots. But, I hate polio more.

This boy is a trooper in so many ways. He puts up with our household chaos and schedules. He rests on my hip throughout a busy weekday evening. He gets toted here and there with big sibling commitments. He's...a third child. With that, though, he has the ultimate benefit of having two adoring big sibs. And they love him so. If he fusses the tiniest bit, Scarlet will bellow from wherever she is in the house, "I'm right here, Leo! It's ok! I'm right here!" Emerson loves reading and saying prayers with Leo at night, and finds his drool, his toots, and silly faces utterly hilarious.

This little boy is an easy smile, super ticklish, and has the sweetest flirty face. He's scooting all over the place and doing what can best be called "back crawling." He uses his legs and pushes himself around while on his back. He's also roly poly, in more ways than one. His arms and thighs are thickening. He's also rolling over as soon as he's flat. I start him on his back and within seconds he's on his stomach. This does wonders for his overnight sleep. He's clocking 12 hours overnight, with a 10-minute feeding about halfway through. This is fantastic, and more importantly, I can survive on this!

True to our parenting form, we started Leo on cereal a few weeks back. He was hungry, and chugging formula just wasn't getting the job done. And, he loves it! No surprise. We've also been sampling some fruits and veggies of late. Also, a big hit. I could share a million, but here are a few pictures that capture our little Leo Puh-jeo oh so well.

Chitty-chatting with mirror-Leo.

Evidence of Scooty Booty. Can't leave him on the bed unattended!

I could kiss this face all day long.

He lights up, and my heart explodes.

This face. Those lips. That sweet, bald, little head.

Smoky Mountain Weekend

Cabin weekends. For the last decade, skipping one or two years in the middle, we've been heading to the woods for a cabin weekend with friends. Hocking Hills, since it's in our backyard, has been our typical go-to. This past year, we mixed it up, and headed south. We met up with the Lipps and Sheppards for four, fun-filled days in Pigeon Forge! OK, this was 6 months ago. We've since added to our household and the Lipps are a few weeks from adding to theirs. We're gonna need a bigger cabin.

Sooo many pictures capturing our good time. And I feel like this only grazes the surface! We're so lucky to be able to travel with our good friends, and have all our kids go through life together.

Bike, check. Baby doll, check. And off we go!

Oh, Norah Jo! We love you so!

View from the cabin deck.

Kids, kids, everywhere!

Moments.

Moments.

And more moments.

Pigeon Forge was MADE for the kiddos! No shortage of things to do.

Even something for the littlest girls.

And the Dads, of course. Terra and I had to sit most of these things out, due to the in uteros.

Go, Beth!

I think B likes it!

Bumper cars...

and arcade games.

 

Craft time (read: Sit down, dear children.)

Emerson and Jason, looking out. Just six months ago, but my how this boy has grown.

My loves as we headed up the mountain on the tram.

Soaking it up!

Proud tourists!

Viking Rex and Paddington Scarlet.

Surrogate big sis braiding her hair. Love love love.

The braids on B's helmet perfectly matched Emerson's hair!

Jason was in charge of story time this night. (Wheels on the Bus)

Another successful cabin trip. Until next year!

Welcoming a new cousin!

Eight days before Leo arrived, we welcomed our sweet nephew and cousin, Jonathan Matthew Studebaker. Just a peanut and full of hair. It's true what they say about your sister's children. They feel like your own. "Jahthan" fits right in, despite Scarlet regularly pointing out his very dark and plentiful hair. He has cousins who adore him and are trying desperately to acclimate him to jet-engine volume on a regular basis.

My first picture with sweet baby J. Love how awake he is! And that you can't see my massive belly here.

Proud cousins bookending Aunt Jeeka and Jonathan.

Sweet kisses for a sweet boy.

Asking what is surely a profound question.

Buddies. One week old and one day old.

Play date buddies.

Preview of "up to no good" buddies.

Christmas buddies.

Buddies! Buddies! Buddies!

Welcome to the world, Leo Henry Zielinski!

Where does one begin to catch up on blogging after nearly 4 months of no posts? Perhaps I could start with the most wonderful happening in that time frame, and the biggest reason I haven't been writing.

At the wee hour of 5:50am on Wednesday, November 26, we welcomed our third, amazing bundle of joy into the world. Leo Henry Zielinski weighed in at 7 lbs and 9 oz and measured 21 inches in length. We were thrilled to add another sweet boy to our mix. And sweet he is.

Labor and delivery was as you might expect with a third child. Everything went well with the overnight induction. Contractions were bearable. Pain was managed. I pushed just twice. He was, after all, almost a full 2 lbs. smaller than his big brother and sister at their births. Hunky dory, right? It wasn't until a couple hours later that my room was swarmed with clinicians, and they called for the hemorrhage kit. Yes, the hemorrhage kit. And while I'm obviously fine, as I sit here and type, it was a little touch-and-go for a short while. This was my first and only complication of any kind with child birth. I'd be OK if that never happened again. And so, surely, is Jason.

We had hospital visitors eager to meet Leo, but not many, because true to style, we went home about 24 hours after Leo took his first breath. And since it was Thanksgiving on the day we were discharged, we stopped to pick up our meal at Bob Evans! I had planned way ahead for this, because, well, I'm a planner and I needed a plan. So, Bob Evans Farmhouse Feast was booked months in advance.

It will take me a while to sort through the past few months for the purpose of the blog. I feel like so much has changed in our household since we welcomed Leo. The big kids are bigger. We had multiple holidays in the mix with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. And I've been back to work now for a couple weeks, so we feel very much back into the swing of things. It's just that our swing has grown by one seat.

Just a few minutes old, and already this cute.

Hanging with Dad.

So fresh.

A visit from Poppy.

Holding hands with my boy.

Dads and babies. It was a busy week!

Leo getting kisses from his new best friends.

When a baby is in the hospital on Thanksgiving, this happens.

On our way home with so much goodness.

Helping already.

Loving already.

Chef Jason! He operated the oven and warmed up our food like a pro.

QT with Mimmy.

Just stopping to admire his new little brother.

Kissable.

Emerson reading to Scooby Scarlet. Scarlet's penchant for this costume in her second year of life deserves a blog dedicated to it. I'll add that to my list.

Rollerskating in the house. 'Cuz she's the middle child. 

It's true...we're all in love with him.