Seth’s parents were able to come over the last week (his dad arriving a few days after his mom) to meet Owen and spend some time with us. We enjoyed having them here. They got a light snow while they were here which was nice since they don’t see that much in Texas. Owen loved being held a ton and Jackson managed to get his Mia to play almost every waking moment. We are weaning off all of the one on one time now that I am flying solo! Here are some pictures from their visit.

Owen and Grandan…also the spider monkey that Aunt Claire knitted for Jackson

Jackson’s first metro ride…also first trip to a museum

The Kolb men and boys

Mia and Owen

another attempt

an attempt at our first family picture as a family of 4…it looks about right, Owen getting “help” from his big brother!  The quilt behind us (that now hangs on our wall) was a gift from Seth’s parents. It was made my Seth’s mom’s grandmother.

This is what Jackson said to Owen as he screamed on our way to church on Christmas Eve! I have to say this was the best Christmas we have had. Not just because Owen joined us only days before..although that had a lot to do with it. It was that we were with family and friends, we made snowmen, snow angels, baked cookies, read Christmas books, decorated our tree together, made a gingerbread house, gave and received gifts, sang our favorite songs and just enjoyed being together.  It was the first year that Jackson began to understand Jesus. we spent many hours singing carols of Jesus’ birth and we listened to him ask question after question about all things Christmas.

My parents were here to celebrate with us for Christmas. We ate yummy food, exchanged gifts and had a fun time watching Jackson open gifts with great enthusiasm. One of my favorite gifts this year is the recipe book that my mom recreated for me. The original was my wedding gift from her and it was lost in our box when we moved back a few months ago. So, she spent so much time handwriting all of our favorites again. We had Christmas dinner at my brother Ryan’s home with his family. A couple of days after Christmas our extended family from my dad’s side made the trek over from Maryland for a fun evening of visiting and …you guessed it, more eating. Here are a zillion pictures from Christmas.

Christmas Eve service…Jackson was slightly disappointed when he realized that there was no baby swaddled in a manger. After looking in for Jesus he said “mom, it’s just a pretend blanket”

the cutest stocking stuffer!

Advent calender

Jackson wanted to make a Jackson snowman and an Owen snowman

It was the year of the shortbread cookie!  My mom made Jackson his own huge container….and he ate and ate and ate.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNPnqhB36b4]

We hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas!

Owen Seth Kolb arrived this morning at 6:23 AM!  He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and 21 1/4 inches long.

We arrived at the hospital Sunday night expecting to be induced. When they did a sonogram, they confirmed he was in fact still head down…but so was his shoulder and hand!  So we decided to go ahead and have a C-section Monday morning.

By the time we got to the OR he was breech once again and presented with feet first!  So it seems like a C-section was always inevitable.

Owen is healthy and doing great.  He has brown hair like his daddy!  The c-section was no fun but we are so happy to be done and now enjoying our baby. We are all recovering…and when I say all I include Seth because he was down and out for a few mins being revived with smelling salts.

Kristen is doing well, although definitely still recovering from her surgery.  We are looking forward to being home in the next couple of days and celebrating Christmas with family, especially Jackson.

The update from here is that we have 20 inches of snow…but no baby yet. We go in tonight to check about his position and will start induction if everything is a go. If he is breech they will set me up for a c-section tomorrow. So, still a waiting game. We will let you know how it goes! We will post snow pictures soon!