Making the Grandparents Proud

Arthur taught the boys this Chinese nursery rhyme.....

Recent Pictures

I don't seem to have a lot of free time to write up posts, so here are a couple pictures without too much commentary.

Too bad I had the camera on the wrong setting on this first one - it could have been really cute if it wasn't blurry. Oh well!

Catching Up

I have so many posts to catch up on! I just went through a few things, and noticed I had not even posted about Tyler's last day of preschool - which was weeks before the baby came! I am going to back-date many of these posts to make sure the blog stays in some sort of order. You should go back to June to check out Tyler's last day of school, and then you can go to August and September to see some more new posts.

Austin

For the Grandparents

1st Day of Preschool

Dylan has been looking forward to going to Preschool for so long now. He has had to watch Tyler the past 2 years having fun. I thought I wouldn't cry this time. As soon as we walked in, his teacher gave him a big smile and walked him over to his cubby. I was glad his back was to me, because my eyes welled up with tears.

I had to quickly compose myself before he noticed, so I asked him where he would like his picture taken. Of all places he chose the water cooler!

Then he sat down to get to work on a puzzle and was not even bothered when I told him it was time for me to go.

He loves his teachers and it is so obvious that they love him, too. We are so proud of you, Dylan!

1st Day of Kindergarten

The night before the big day, I had a bit of a crying fit realizing that Tyler was starting Kindergarten. The next day, with 3 kids in toe, the only one to shed tears was Austin (and scream at the top of his lungs). Tyler was awesome! He walked into his classroom, found his name badge and then found his desk. The teacher invited the parents to stay for reading time, but because Austin was screaming, I had to leave. This made me sad, but Tyler was a brave kid and gave me a big smile and waved me off as I left the room. After school, he had a big smile on his face from having a great first day. I told him I was sorry for not being able to stay, and he just said, "That's ok, Mom! You had to take care of Austin!"

What a mature little man Tyler has become!

Dylan's B-day

Dylan is 3! Wow, my little guy is growing up so fast!

Dylan, you are becoming a little man! This year, you have learned so much. You speak so well now. Everyone is so surprised to hear such a deep voice come out of such an adorable little guy. You are quiet when Ty is around, but can't stop talking when he is in school. You are learning your alphabet and are starting to trace letters by yourself. You have a huge love for books. So many times, I go to check to make sure you are asleep, only to find you sitting on your bed with 4-5 books sprawled around you!

You amaze me all the time with your long-term memory. Yesterday, you remembered a part of a book that we had not read in close to 4 months. Today, as we passed the middle school, you remembered a time 6 months ago when we picked someone up from there.

You have started preschool and are meeting new people. You love your teachers at school and at church. You are learning to put your shoes on by yourself. You love your brothers and are a great example. You have no problem sharing and waiting your turn. You love snuggling with me and watching Avatar with Daddy.

For your birthday, you got legos, transformers, and bakugan. At your request, we went out for pizza and had cupcakes for dessert.

I love you buddy!

Birth

1st Birthday
2nd Birthday
3rd Birthday

Austin - 2 months

Tyler's B-day

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! I remember the day he was born, I started to cry thinking that he would soon be leaving me for college. At the time, I was able to laugh it off as crazy emotions, but now I am realizing I was right. The years have passed too quickly.

This was a big year for you, Tyler! You have really begun to read well. You love looking at bus stop numbers, doing your workbooks, getting stickers on your charts, and watching Avatar with Dad. You are a huge help to me as you have started to walk your dishes to the kitchen counter, put your clothes in the hamper, and bathe yourself. You are so great with Austin. I can trust you to keep an eye on him for a few minutes.

You have started kindergarten and love everything about it. You are on your first soccer team and although you have lost every game so far, you still are excited about it. You have a great zest for life. I love you, buddy!

For your birthday this year, Uncle Aaron was able to come celebrate with us. You got lots of Legos, Transformers, and a Dart gun set. You spent most of the night running around shooting everyone with darts.

Happy Birthday, Ty! We love you!

Birth

1st Birthday
2nd Birthday
3rd Birthday
4th Birthday
5th Birthday

Age Comparison - 6 weeks

I like to see how my boys compare at different times. Here are pictures of each of my boys at about 6 weeks.

Clearly, Austin resembles Tyler quite a bit at this time:

Tyler

Dylan

Austin

Austin's Blessing

Arthur had to travel to a computer graphics conference in New Orleans last week. So, I did not want to spend the entire week alone. I went up to Sacramento to visit family (and get a little help while I could!). We arranged to have Arthur fly into Sacramento after his conference so he could make the drive home with me.

Because we would all be there together and both our families live in Sacramento, we decided to bless Austin. He was calm and content the entire morning. I was able to sit back and enjoy the moment fully. The blessing was wonderful and the spirit was felt very strongly.

My sister and her family were there, but they had church commitments after the blessing. Unfortunately, we did not get pictures with them.

Before church - I wanted to make sure we got a clean picture of Austin in his outfit before the potential sweat and spit up-filled pictures that could be present by the end of the day. Can you tell I have been through this 2 times before?

Just Us:

Arthur's Parents and Us:My Parents and Us:Almost the whole group:Uncle Alvin with my 4 Boys:This was taken about 2 seconds after Austin was placed on the wet grass:3 seconds after being placed on the wet grass:Cute shots of Austin:

A Few of My Favorites this Week

Introducing...

We are proud to announce the arrival of

Austin Tin-yi Shek
June 29, 2009
7 lb. 4 oz
20 inches

Although we had prepared to have Austin join our family on July 5th due to a scheduled induction, his low fluid levels enabled him to come a few days early. After a morning ultrasound appointment, we were asked to report to the hospital within 1 hour! Thankfully, we have a great support system. We rushed to pack our bags, feed and dress Tyler and Dylan, call our parents, call Nicole (thank you, thank you!) to arrange for last minute babysitting, and call for Super Shuttle to pick up Grandma from the airport. We made our entrance into Labor and Delivery within 2 hours of that call.

6 hours of pitocin and 1 push later, Austin was born!