Another One

Yes another one. One of the advantages to the week home with the family was it gave me time to complete my blog book for 2008. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Blurb had finally resolved the issues with Blogger, so I got on my book as soon as I could. Truthfully, I might have finished the book earlier, but the BookSmart software was really having some problems with my Mac. Every time I tried to work on it the program would close and I ended up losing the first two months a couple of times. To fix the problem I actually had to work on the book on a borrowed PC (the horror of it all).

Still, it's finished. 240 full color pages, witty commentary, a true must read. If only I can find the $50 plus dollars to purchase the book I'd be set....

Sleepy Head

I know the stereotype is the exhausted new parents, both struggling as the newborn sleeps all day and is awake all night. The truth is, Dylan has been pretty good about sleeping both day and night. He needs to be fed once a night or so, but he is a very good sleeper - so far. The trouble is the other kids have been keeping us awake.

Last night Alex laid in bed and cried out for his "mommy" several different times. Each time I couldn't help him sleep, only his mom. You can imagine how much this wore Tara out. This morning we realized that Alex has a touch of the croup, so you can't really blame him for his poor night. Still, you don't think the big kids will be the ones keeping you awake.

While I'm on the topic of sleep. My favorite day to sleep lately is Sunday. It seems that I get a chance to catch up on about 20 minutes or so every Sunday. The problem is that the 20 minutes are during Sacrament Meeting. I have become the counselor in the bishopric that nods on and off through the entire meeting. I don't know what's come over me. My only answer is that being a High Priest is finally catching up with me...

The Red Balloon

the red balloon
Originally uploaded by covili

A couple weeks ago we had some valentine's balloons delivered to our home for the kids. If you don't know - I HATE balloons, but watching the kids play with the red balloon was too good to pass up. Enjoy!

Dylan's First Week - Tara's Take

So little Dylan has been with us for a week now. Dylan is such a sweet, calm baby. So far, he sleeps a lot, eats a lot and poops a lot. He doesn't cry much, just during diaper changes and has actually been sleeping pretty good at night. I thought at this point I would be a sleep deprived walking zombie, but I'm actually doing really well. Dylan gets up twice a night right now, eats and goes right back to bed. Nice!


We have had lots of visitors, lots of bottles, lots of diaper changes, lots of naps, lots of meals brought in, (thanks everyone-I haven't even had to cook yet!) and lots of fun with baby Dylan. We took him to the doctor on Tuesday and he was back up to his birth weight and very healthy.



Alex and Kennedy seem to be adjusting well. They love their baby brother and always want to hold him. Alex is very interested in his binkies and they seem to disappear whenever he is around. Kennedy likes to help feed Dylan and make sure he has a toy next to him to play with.

Next week will be the true test of having three kids. Jared is going back to work and His parents are going back to New Harmony. It has been nice to have the extra help, but reality will set in next week. We will have to see if I can handle this new role of mommy! Wish us luck!

What a Week - Jared's Take

It's been a fun adjustment getting used to life with a newborn. People are actually interested in visiting us again (I should say they're interesting in visiting Dylan - we just happen to be here) and the meals keep on coming. Life is rather surreal when someone brings you a meal everyday. I won't complain though, who could complain about Hilarie's spaghetti, I could live on that sauce.

Tara has been a real trooper this week as Dylan's favorite time to be awake is from 1-3 am. I wonder how long it will take to turn him around so he sleeps at night instead of all day? Maybe he's just preparing for being a teenager! The best is having Big Al hold Dylan. I don't know who sleeps more. Dylan is already trying to copy his Papa though as both seemed lost in thought.

Favorite quote by Big Al this week: "I like kids when they're this age. They can't run around and they don't tell you no."

Everyone is finally settling into new patterns. Kennedy is ready to be mini mom, as she tells everyone what they can and can't do around Dylan. Alex is ready to be a big brother. He loves to hold his little brother and constantly asks if he can "hold it". We're still working on calling Dylan "him".

As for me, I'm headed back to work - in fact I'm there right now. It's been great to have a few days at home for the transition, but all things must come to an end and it's time. Now is when the reality of three children will finally set in. Wish us luck, especially Tara!

Our Little Valentine

It's been a whirlwind weekend for us. With Dylan's birth on Thursday there has been so much going on that's it is a bit difficult to recap all that's gone on. After we left the hospital on Thursday night we quickly got on the phones to let everyone know what was going on (note to self - remember not to text parents important news).

Friday was a day spent in American Fork. We tried not to be too obtrusive in Amber's life, since she was still recovering from delivery, but it was hard to stay away from our cute little guy. We managed to spend a few hours with Dylan, while having a couple different family members drop in. One great thing about our time in the hospital was the chance to learn more about Amber. We really didn't know her well and the down time in the hospital gave us ample opportunity to talk. She really is a great person.

Saturday the time for placement was upon us. It is such an amazing experience. It's hard to put things into words, but the event is emotionally wrenching, physically rewarding, and spiritually uplifting. Amber did something for us that we cannot do for ourselves. She has done something for Dylan that will change his life forever. Alex and Kennedy have a new little brother that will grow with them and love them for the rest of their lives. It's something that is so overwhelming, but it was supposed to happen. This will not only change our lives, but I know Amber's life has been changed as well. Thank you so much Amber - we love you!

After the placement, it was time to come home - with THREE kids! Alex and Kennedy didn't quite know what to make of little Dylan. Each of them wanted to take care of their new baby brother, while all he wanted to do was sleep. It's been an interesting transition to have another newborn, the least of which is the lack of sleep. Still, everything is great. We love where our family is at and we can't believe how luck we are to have our little Valentine!

Meet Dylan

After several hours of waiting around, Dylan Noble finally came into the world at 6:34 pm this evening. It had been a day full of anticipation as Amber was scheduled to go into the hospital first thing this morning. Things went pretty slowly for several hours, and then it all happened at once. Being adoptive parents, all we could do was wait. I think it's almost like the way things used to be, when the dad would get a phone call telling him he had a new baby boy. When we got the call, we raced down to the hospital to meet little Dylan.


We arrived at the hospital just in time for Tara to get a bracelet and head into the nursery for Dylan's first bath. What a cute kid. He weighs 8lbs. 3oz. and is 20 inches long (isn't every baby 20 inches long?) and has little tufts of light colored hair. While Tara bathed him we learned immediately that this kid has a good set of lungs, as you could hear him screaming through the glass - can you blame him though, it was a pretty tough day...





Kennedy and Alex were so excited to see their new baby brother. On the way to the hospital Dede had a checklist of her new duties to care for Dylan. "Give him his bottle, make sure he has a binkie, burp him so he doesn't have air in his belly." The list went on and on. As we watched Tara with Dylan the kids were beaming. They kept trying to get the baby's attention and couldn't wait for the chance to hold him.

We spent a couple of hours with Amber and Dylan, before we needed to bring some exhausted kids home for bed. Birth mom is doing great (what a trooper!) and, much to our surprise, she gave us presents for our family and the baby. Can you believe it? Like she didn't have enough on her mind already! It was an amazing night and we can't wait to get back to hospital tomorrow to see Baby Dylan.

Baby Coming

Alex is a man of few words, but these ones matter a lot (at least some of them matter a lot - I'm not so sure about the Cheerios).

Draper Opens Up

Over the weekend we went to the Draper Temple open house. It was the night our ward had tickets, so we thought we would make a night of it. Little did we know we would make a night of it. Draper is a small temple, so I didn't think it would take very long to tour the building. It didn't, it's getting to the building that takes forever.

First of all Draper is out there. From our house it took over 30 minutes to get to the parking area. And no, the parking area isn't at the temple. To accommodate all the visitors, you're asked to park at churches throughout Draper. We were ushered into the church at 6:45 and didn't leave until nearly 7:30. Part of the slow down was the enormous crowd, the other part was a volunteer workforce that functioned like, well like a volunteer workforce.

The kids really liked the trip from the church up to the temple. Everyone is ushered from the churches onto buses and then shuttled up the hill. Alex hasn't ridden the bus much and this may have been his highlight for the night. He hasn't stopped talking about the bus since we got home. My bus highlight was driving through the neighborhood where the temple is situated. It isn't often that the buildings surrounding the temple catch your attention as much as the temple itself. Wow!

The Draper Temple is really beautiful. Murals on the walls, very cool earth tones throughout the building, the most amazing chandeliers in the rooms. It really takes your breath away. Kennedy kept saying how pretty is was and I have to agree.

It was a neat experience to take the kids inside the temple again. Even though they've been lucky enough to go through the Manti Temple, it's been a while and this building is so much different. When we first talked about the open house I thought Tara and I might go alone. I thought the kids might get bored. After going through the temple I think I underestimated our children's ability to comprehend the magnitude of the temple. They know it's the Lord's house and I'm glad they had the chance to see it, even if we didn't get home til after 9!

Blogger is back on Blurb

I know a lot of you were pretty down after you learned late last year that Blurb had stopped working with Blogger to make blog books. After months of angry users, guess what came back earlier today - Blogger support from Blurb. That’s right - you can again make your wonderful blog books using Booksmart, the free download from Blurb. You’ll need the latest version of Booksmart 1.9.9 and then it’s up to you. Bloggers rejoice!

BTW - All of you who started blogging once you saw my blog books need to remember me in the dedication of your 2008 book!

All Grown Up

Over the weekend we make a dramatic shift in our home - Kennedy and Alex moved to the basement. It wasn't some form of sadistic punishment, we're simply trying to make space for the baby. One of the downsides to our upstairs is that we only have two bedrooms. So, for the past few months we've been talking to Dede and Alex about moving downstairs. We thought we could sweeten the deal by giving Kennedy a new "princess" bed and Alex would move from the crib to a "big boy" bed (I can't believe how tiny he looks).




Saturday, we finally made the switch. We imagined a night full of tears, trips to mommy and daddy's room, and zero sleep. Much to our delight things went pretty well. With the monitor we could hear everything going on, but there wasn't anything going on. Both Kennedy and Alex took to their new room as if it was nothing new. They slept through the night and woke up excited about their new space. If only everything was this easy!