Penn in Dino Gear

Penn dressed in Dinos today.  His way of participating in his brothers' fun at the museum. =) I had fun snapping some pictures while he had his eyes open this afternoon.  Getting to know the faces of Penn...

Penn's First Checkup

This morning was Penn's first checkup since leaving the hospital.  It was also the first time we've been outside since getting home (just too hot and muggy!).  Penn did great during the appointment.  He slept through the whole thing.  

He weighed 2 more ounces than when we left the hospital, so he's now 7 lbs., 4 oz.  Still 20 and 1/2 inches long.  Penn is completely healthy and I rejoice that we are so blessed!

Dinosaurs With Daddy

Doug is being amazing with the boys.  He's planning fun excursions for Koen, Tavin and himself and carrying them through with a smile on his face and lots of enthusiasm.  It's been amazing.  I would be so overwhelmed if I was surrounded by the big boys all day as I get used to nursing many times a day, holding an infant a large portion of the day and it's also great to have the extra snuggle time to continue getting to know Penn.  


Yesterday Doug took both boys to Kidz Gig for the last day.  Tavin hung out in childcare and thought he was also at "school" like big brother.  Then they all enjoyed the closing picnic potluck there.  Today Doug took the boys to the Carnegie Natural History Museum and the Main Carnegie Library.  Here are a few pictures of their time at the museum and their picnic lunch outdoors in between the two activities...

On the boys' way home, they stopped at Walnut Street in Shadyside and got some refreshing gelato and picked up some cute clothes for their new baby brother.  Penn was a little mad when the boys got home, so he was quite vocal as the boys unwrapped the presents for him, but still some cute pics.  Koen and Tavin are already spoiling and loving on Penn.  It's so special to watch.  I love their big hearts.

Penn's Homecoming

This morning was our scheduled discharge time from the hospital.  We were excited to come home and get started in our new routine as a family of 5 (plus a super helpful Gramma!).  But we were also sad to leave these precious hours of one-on-one time with our new little Penn with no other major responsibilities.  We had had a great night with Penn as he is doing great with nursing and he seems to be more tired and sleeping between feedings really well as he recharges from his busy first days!  Then this morning he did great with his pediatrician check-in.  He's only lost 4 oz. and my milk has come in, so hopefully we will have that made up by his first appointment on Saturday.  I checked out fine with my doctor and we had some relaxation time before getting packed up and out the door.  Here are a few final snuggle pictures before we got Tavin ready for his first car seat ride...

Then we had fun (although Penn didn't really care for it) suiting him up in his going home outfit from Gramma.

After he got all riled up he was rooting around like crazy even though he was all set food-wise.  I was settling him down and he went after my cheek.  It felt so precious - little kisses from Penn!

Then we put him in the car seat and he loved it and went straight back to sleep.  What a little trooper!  

Since we live just blocks from the hospital we were home in a flash and Tavin and Gramma were waiting on the front porch for us.  Tavin was very curious about his new little brother.  He spent quite a lot of time inspecting him and asking me questions about him.  Very special!

A little while later Koen got home and he immediately wanted to hold Penn.  He is already very protective and wants to be with Penn every minute.  I'm sure the newness will wear off, but I'm thankful he is such a sweet, caring older brother (even if it's a little intense that he wants to be all over Penn).

Well, it's been a good afternoon/evening back at home.  A little overwhelming to me as I know I need to chill out and not do too much, but I have so much I want to organize and just be able to do my normal duties.  Thankfully my Mom is here taking care of most of my normal routine (amazing!), so I have no excuse and need to take care of myself so that I will back to my usual self in the coming days.  Doug's handling most of the responsibility of the boys now that he's home, but he also managed to get some snuggle time with Penn after the big boys were in bed.  Pretty cute!

We love you, Penn.  Welcome to your new home!  Many memories to be made for sure!

Koen at Kidz Gig

It's worked out great that during a busy week for Mommy and Daddy what with welcoming our new addition that Koen has had Kidz Gig every morning.  He's been having a blast with his friends and the great staff and volunteers.  Thank you to everyone!  Here's a glimpse at the fun he's been having at Gig...

I don't have a lot of details as a five-year-old is pretty selective in what he shares as the exciting parts of his days (he loves Goldfish for snack, he says they learn about God, he's very excited about the pie contest that is incentive for raising money for the orphanage, etc.).  One thing I do know is that he's been working on his playground skills.  I guess one day he did the firepole all by himself and then the next day he got himself across the monkey bars.  He was so excited about that that last night when Doug took him to the playground he proved his new skill.  Check out the video...

Today Koen got to ride home from Gig with Miss Kyndal and her boys, Kaiser and Porter.  She stopped at the playground for them to eat a picnic lunch.  

Koen was working on his playground skills I guess again and he specifically asked Miss Kyndal to take his picture jumping (as seen below) so that I could see.  

Well, as you can see, we are very blessed that Koen has been so well cared for at home by his grandparents and then all morning long by our friends in our church community.  Thanks so much to all of the Koen-fun contributors!

Tavin & Penn Meet Again

Tavin got to visit us again this morning while Koen was at Kidz Gig.  It was great to have him come by with my parents again.  He already seemed more comfortable after being here yesterday and knowing a little more what to expect.  Plus, he got to see the construction workers again (he likes to call out the window, "hi man!").  After Tavin had been in the room for a few minutes Doug asked if he wanted to hold Penn.  Tavin said, "um, yeah" and so this is the adorable moment we got to have...

Precious!  It was so sweet because Tavin kept leaning in and quietly saying to Penn, "I love you, baby."  We didn't even prompt it.  So sweet.  Tavin is going to be a great big brother.  After he left, Doug got this picture of me and my newest little bundle.  I can't believe he too will quickly grow up and be a big boy like Tavin and Koen, I'm going to really try and soak up every moment of this infant stage.  It passes so fast!

A Few More First Day with Penn Pictures

Well, we got lots of questions yesterday about "when will we see pictures?"  So here you go...you've now been inundated with blog posts about the very special day that Penn came into our lives.  Here are a few more pictures to round out our first hours with Penn...


Doug had a pretty rough day (ha, ha), so he caught a little snuggle nap with Penn in the afternoon.

Penn was amazingly alert yesterday.  He was up most of the 4 hours after he was born and then was awake for over an hour in the afternoon.  It was great time to bond with him and get a better look at his precious little face.

As you can tell, I've already fallen in love with this sweet little man!

My friend Kyndal visited in the evening.  She brought her fancy camera to snap a few pictures of Penn.  Here are her favorites!  Thanks, Kyndal.  You caught some great ones!

Penn Meets His Big Brothers!

Well, it was hard to be patient and wait for God's timing for Penn to arrive, but it's clear that the Lord wanted to bless us with the convenience of having my parents in town when the exciting arrival finally happened.  My Dad was set to leave on the morning Penn was born, but he scrapped those plans when he woke up on Tuesday morning by my Mom telling him he had another grandson!  Thankfully it was very easy to leave the house as quickly as we needed to with my parents there to care for the boys and it's been so nice to know they are with their grandparents and we can just rest at the hospital and enjoy some special bonding time with Penn.  


Due to Gramma and Grampa being at the house on Tuesday morning, they got to be the ones to deliver the special news to Koen and Tavin that Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital and they had a new baby brother!  When my Mom and Dad told us about the special moment, they were both brought to tears.  I guess Koen's reaction was complete rapt attention during the story-telling and when he found out it was a boy he said, "just what I always wanted!"  Precious.  Here are Gramma and Grampa with Penn later that morning...

Dad had dropped Koen off at Kidz Gig (so nice Penn came while Koen has something to do every morning this week...thanks North Way for caring for Koen these mornings!).  And then he and Mom brought Tavin over to meet the new baby.  Tavin had been asking for "baby out" for weeks now (as had I!), but I think it was a lot for him to take in.  He kept looking at my belly, then at Penn, then back at my belly.  I think this will take awhile to set in!  

You can see from the pictures that Tavin was quite reserved and almost acted unfamiliar with me since I was in a strange bed, strange clothes and a strange room.  Poor little Tav.  Thankfully by the end of his visit he was acting a little more like his usual self (I think it helped that he discovered that out our window he could see construction workers on the roof below us, that was a distraction for his on-edge nerves!).  We had decided that it would be nice to introduce the boys to Penn separately so that Koen wouldn't overwhelm the situation for Tavin, I actually think Tav would've been comforted by his brother, but we also didn't want him to make it more intense.  It was special to see them both respond separately as well.  Dad picked Koen up from Kidz Gig and brought him over to meet Penn around noon.  Here's Koen's first few moments with Penn...

Pretty cute!  Being 5 versus 2 and 1/2 definitely makes a difference in understanding what exactly is going on.  Koen was really sweet about his new brother.  Koen even gave Penn the craft he made that morning at Gig.  So precious!  The nurses here think that is so cute!  Koen hung out with us for awhile.  I didn't like the lunch meal the hospital brought me (grilled cheese and tomato soup), so I let Koen eat it on the big special tray and everything.  He loved it!  It was great to see both the boys and get to introduce him to the newest Melder boy.  It's going to be a blast (and let's be honest, a challenge) raising these three boys into men.  But with God's help and grace I'm so excited for what lies ahead!