I love this new picture I took of Alexandra last night. I can't decide if I like color or black & white better:

I must say, it really is quite an adjustment getting used to 3 children. It's especially difficult because Elijah & Ethan are going through a stage where they ignore everything I say. That makes it hard when I'm sitting down nursing a lot, and I need them to listen to me. Hopefully, we'll work through it soon.
Last weekend was our family reunion in Lincoln City. It was nice. There were plenty of activities to do- too much actually. I just wished we were all able to stay one more day. The kids all had a great time. They got to see lots of animals at the aquarium, wrestle eachother at the house, play air hockey, go on a treasure hunt, fly kites, play in the sand & in the ocean, and watch someone make an incredible glass hummingbird at the glass art fair- which he gave to the boys to keep. It was a lot of fun. I think one day we'll look into having a place at the beach. The kids have so much fun there, and it's so close. It'd be great to be able to pick up and go spend the weekend there whenever we wanted. Maybe one day....



Eli after being plowed over by a sneaker wave, Alex and me @ the aquarium, Ethan trying out the scuba gear, and the boys just playin' in the sand :)

My little angel....

Alexandra is 2 weeks old today. She had a doctor's appt, and she is up to 7lbs 11oz (25th percentile) & 20 3/4 inches long (75th percentile). Doc says she's doing great! She eats a lot, I mean A LOT, and loves to be held as much as possible. When we went to see the doctor, we took in the rest of the family to get flu shots at the same time. I was SO impressed with how well the boys did. They didn't even cry. They hopped up on the table, held out their arm, got the shot, got their reward m&m's from their dad, then hopped back down. Something else they did great with was getting their hair cut today. They usually fight it like mad, especially Elijah. But today they both sat in the chair perfectly and let their hair get cut. I was amazed. It's nice that at least some things are actually getting easier amidst everything else that's getting more difficult. I thought that things were going fairly well with 3 kids, but that was before I actually tried doing anything for myself- like cleaning the house or doing more to get ready other than just throwing on jeans and a t-shirt. I don't get near enough interaction with the boys anymore either. I feel so bad that they spend most of their day playing by themselves. I have some things to sort out, and some adjusting to do. I know everything will work itself out in time, it's just quite a struggle in the meantime.
This weekend is our family reunion. It's not in Sunriver this year, because the planning just kept getting put off with everything else that's going on. Then, it just got to be too late to get a Sunriver house in time. So, this year we are gathering at a home in Lincoln City. Travis and I found the house and made most of the arrangements, so hopefully everything goes well. Unfortunately, we're not going to get as much time together as usual. Not everyone's work schedules allowed it this year, but at least we're getting together. We have lots of games planned, along with clamming, crabbing, scrapbooking, tidepooling, a blown glass art fair, and a family Halloween activity at the casino.
Well, I need to go spend some time with my family. I just wanted to get a journal entry in, since it's been a while. One last thing, I got my photos back from my maternity photo shoot last month. I'll be posting some favs soon.

Alexandra Pre Newton was born October 4th @ 10:31 p.m. She weighed 7lbs. 2 3/4 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. TINY compared to my boys- thank goodness. The induction process was a little long, but in the end, the delivery went perfect. We just got home today, and we're all doing great. We were worried about having jealously problems with Ethan, but he's been great. He's so excited about Alexandra, but for the most part leaves her alone. Elijah, on the other hand, is all over her. We thought he was going to be great with her, but he is WAY too excited over her. He loves her sooooo much, and that's great, but he is just way too hyper around her. Hopefully, things will settle down once he gets used to having her around, and she's not so new anymore. Anyway, I'm glad to be home with her, and to have Travis' help adjusting for a few days. But soon enough, life with 3 children will really set in, and I know I'm in for quite a ride!! :)

Our last weekend together before Alexandra gets here was spent at Bauman Farms. It is a fantastic farm full of kid-friendly pumpkin fun at halloween time. We've gone there for 3 years now. On Saturday, we spent about 3 1/2 hours there, and we still didn't do everything there was to do. We have to take a trip back again later in October with Alexandra to do the hayride, corn maze, and pick out pumpkins. All of these holiday activities that are starting now are so much fun for us and the kids. I just bought tickets for a special "Polar Express" event that Mt. Hood Railroad puts on. It's an hour & a half train ride, where the kids wear their p.j.s, get hot chocolate & cookies, and get a special Christmas bell from Santa to boot! I was so excited when I found it online, I bought tickets right away. What a great idea for the kids. They are going to love it so much. Not to mention all of the other Christmas time activities coming up too - Zoo Lights, visiting Santa, driving around to see all of the houses lit up, decorating the tree, .... I love the holidays :).
Alexandra's birthday will HOPEFULLY be on Wednesday (October 4th). We go in at 7:30 am, and begin induction at 8:30. With both boys, I was induced with petocin, but this time I'm trying something different. I'm starting with a pill that's supposed to help the process move along more naturally. Hopefully it works, but if it doesn't, I'll just be delaying the inevitable petocin by 8 hours. So, again, HOPEFULLY her birthday will be Wednesday, but I could very easily go into Thursday. Even though I'm delivering a week early, I anticipate her being a pretty big girl still. I do not expect a below average or even an average size baby. Here is my official guess: 21 inches long, and 8 lbs. 10oz. We'll see how close I am....
Once again, I'm having trouble with loading my pictures. Maybe I need to downsize them? Anyway, I'll post pics from the pumplin patch in a later post.