Hawaii Ink

Lesson learned: don't put tattoos on your kid if there is a chance that it may be one of the most photographed weeks of their life. Two weeks ago (Sept 13th), I found some Cars tattoos that I friend had given me, and I thought it would be fun to show them to Keaton b/c we've never done tattoos before. I thought they would surely wash right off in the bath that night. Wrong! Here we are 2 weeks later and the tattoos are still there! If we really scrubbed, I think they would come off at this point, but of course, Keaton doesn't want to let them go, so he makes sure we are extra careful in the bath each night. Now Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks and the rest of the gang have a presence in all the pictures of Keaton during Mark's first 2 weeks. Oh well!

Coming Home

Thankfully, they only made me stay 2 nights in the hospital - I was ready to get my baby home and our family back together! Here's some pics from outside Queens Medical Center right before we left. Check out this amazing tree on the grounds of the hospital!

We are officially a 2 car seat family now - I'm so thankful for our van!

Both boys conked out on the way home - what an adventure!

Meeting Little Brother

One of the hardest things about the day Mark was born was being away from Keaton for so long. We are so blessed to have friends here that could care for him that day and night, so Scott could stay with me at the hospital. The next morning, Scott picked up Keaton and brought him to meet his new brother. Over the last few months, we tried the best we could to prepare Keaton for the baby's arrival, but both Scott and I were a little worried about his reaction to the real event.

At first, he was just happy to have his mama back!

Keaton's first peak at Baby Mark

Hmm...not so sure about this!

Okay, maybe he is pretty cute!

A little bribe never hurt anyone... the Mr. Potato Head was his "big brother" gift

Our first family picture - all 4 of us! I felt really dorky, but I actually hit the nurse call button and asked if someone could come take a picture for us. As if they don't have anything better to do! Thankfully, the nurse was a good sport about it.

Mark Nathan: Birth Story

Wow! What a week it has been! It's hard to believe that a week ago, this little man was still hangin out in my belly, craving buffalo wings. Now he's here, part of our family, like he was always supposed to be.

Last Monday night, I woke up in the middle of the night with contractions, not painful, just noticeable enough to make me realize something was definitely happening. The next morning, Scott and I debated about whether he should go into work or stay home with us just in case. Thankfully, God answered that question for us - my water broke at 6:15am. Called my doctor - time to head to the hospital. Let the adventure begin. We finished packing our bag, loaded up Keaton and dropped him off with Karen and Lucas (the only place he would rather be than home). By the time we got to the hospital, it was 8:30am. Contractions had still not really started, but they confirmed that my water had definitely broken. By 2:00, contractions were still few and far between. Because it had been so long since my water broke, I was at risk for infection, so they started an IV of Pitocin to induce labor. Sitting, waiting, watching the nurses slowly up the dose until at around 6:30, finally I was in enough pain that they offered me the epidural, which I gladly accepted. This is us waiting on me to go into labor - at least we had a good view!

To make a long story short, the epidural only worked on one side of my body - youchy!!!! I went from 6cm to 10cm in 15 minutes. The doctor came from home and barely made in time. He walked in with his gym shorts and t-shirt, washed his hands and caught Mark Nathan who popped out in about 5 pushes. Holy cow! It's a boy! Nothing beats that moment.

Mark Nathan Anderson

7lbs, 11 oz

20 inches

He is named for my dad (Mark) and Scott's grandpa (Nathan), and definitely favors his older brother.

We are so excited to have another little man to love. God is so good!

Boat Outing

Our next door neighbor, Anita is a boating enthusiast! She has a 26 ft sailboat that she has been wanting to take us out on for months, but our schedules just never seemed to coordinate on the weekends. On Saturday, we finally found some time where all of us were free, so Anita took us out for a ride in the Bay near our house. It was a perfect afternoon for a boat ride. We even saw a few sea turtles and a school of manta rays swimming around in the bay (sorry, we weren't close enough to get any great pics). What a treat! Thanks again Anita for the fun experience!



















I still cant believe how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place!












Anita teaching Scott "the ropes"













All 4 of us: thankfully, I did go into labor on the boat - it only goes about 10mph, and we were quite a distance from the harbor!

Livin Life

Since we know that Keaton's life is about to change in a big way, the last 2 weeks have been spent trying to pack in as much fun as we can! Here's some of the stuff we have been up to...

Strolling Waikiki

Playgroup at the beach!

Picnic at the park with best buddy, Lucas

Honolulu Zoo for Labor Day

Friday evening football on the beach with Dad

Story time at the library

Visiting our animal friends at Kualoa Ranch - Buster the Ostrich is a hit!

Plenty of Pooltime

Ice Cream!

And of course, several trips to the mall so he can play with the trains.

Baby #2 Shower

The ladies at our church were so sweet to host a baby shower for me on Monday night. I was so blessed by the awesome time of fellowship and prayer! I also walked away with tons of loot for baby- mainly diapers, which is just what I had asked for!

Notice I chose to wear pink - I can dream, right?

Thanks to Erin for hosting!