Happy Valentine's Day

Jack is tasting "food" for the first time. Not a fan.

Some "catch-up" pics

Wow! Sorry I have been remiss in updating the blog; we have had some serious computer issues at the Koch house! Anyway, here we are again. Thought I would post some pictures of the fam since Jack seems to be growing like a weed.

Just before a walk... Daddy thinks he looks like Eminem.

Here is Phoebe on her Christmas bike-- it's a Stryder balance bike. Her cousins each have one and they "zoom." We practice all the time.

Jack is now in the excersaucer! What? It's going too fast!

Here's my best girl cuddled up with her Daisy Mae. They are watching Toy Story 2 together.

Sigh.

Dickens' Dinner

Here we are getting ready to leave for the annual Dickens' Dinner at the club. Nana bought Phoebe this new dress, and she wanted to show it off. She is so stinkin' big!

And of course we have to have a silly one.

But the biggest story of all this Christmas is that Phoebe actually sat on Santa's lap. She has had many opportunities this year to sit with him but just couldn't build up the confidence. As Santa was making his last rounds visiting all the tables last night, Phoebe found the strength somewhere deep within her tiny little self. I asked her if she would like to sit with him for just a minute, and she shyly shook her head that she would like to. Santa sat down (and, by the way, this was the kindest, most patient Santa I have ever met), opened up his arms, and Phoebe climbed right up there. She didn't talk to him, but she did give him a hug. Of course, I lost it. What a beautiful and magical thing to see Christmas through the eyes of a child.

Merry Christmas!

(By the way, Jack was snoozing it up in someone's arms during all of this excitement.)

His most prized posessions

Tonight Shawn, Phoebe, and Jack watched a movie on the sofa. He is so proud of his two kids. He wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

Just we two

I used to call her my fanny pack. Now I call her my best friend.

Blogworthy by megan

Sometimes I wish our younger selves could see us now.

This morning as I was feeding Jack on the sofa, I hear Shawn and Phoebe having an interesting conversation in the half bath. He was showing her how to apply her Tinker Bell lip gloss.

"Phoebe, make sure you get the top lip and the bottom lip."

"Daddy, let me do it! I can do it myself."

"I know, but you are not putting it on your lips. Look, it's all over your face. Here, let's start over. Put a small amount on the top and bottom. Now smush your lips together like this."

I couldn't see this exchange, but I heard it. It was just too precious not to share. I'm sure Shawn's younger self never expected he would be giving lessons on the precision of lip gloss application. Sigh.

Special Visitors

Jack got to meet his grandma and his great grandma this weekend. Here he is with GG, his great grandmother.

Phoebe, Grandma, and Jack. Notice that Phoebe still can't keep her hands off of her brother. She loves him so much.
Grandma and Jack.

Shawn, Grandma, and Jack.

Monday was the last day of their visit, so we decided to take Phoebe out of school at noon, go to lunch, and head up to the North Georgia Outlets. It was such a beautiful day; we had a great time!

Back to the grind... here's the fam after the excitement of our special weekend with Grandma and GG.

Thank you for coming down to visit! We had such a great time!

The first bath

Jack is so tiny that we put him in a bucket in the sink for his first bath.

The first bath was a success. He loved it!

Jack and his grandpa after the bath! (I won't tell you what Jack is doing in that towel as I snapped the picture. Notice the smile on his face!)

Special Delivery

This beautiful arrangement arrived from the faculty and staff of Johns Creek High School!

She can't get enough!

Brand New

I was sitting up late with Jack last night writing thank you notes, and he was, well, doing this. In fact this is what he does most of the time. I started to reflect about how my experience with Jack has started out so much differently than my experience with Phoebe did. For those of you who know the story, you know what I'm talking about. Jack is one week old in this picture. I never got to see one week old for Phoebe, or two weeks, or three weeks for that matter. I missed all of Phoebe's newness. I know three weeks is still pretty new, but it's definitely not brand new. I feel so blessed to be able to experience Jack's "brand newness."

Big Sister

Shawn brought Phoebe down to the hospital so she could meet her little brother. I will NEVER forget the look on her face when she saw him-- it was so filled with wonder and amazement. I can't even describe it, but I wish I somehow could have captured it.

She couldn't get close enough to him.
Essentially she told me to get out of the bed so she could hold him. She couldn't wait to get her little hands on him. She wanted to see every inch of him, inspecting all along the way and asking questions that one would need a medical degree to answer.

Finally, back at home. She feeds him every chance she can.

Funny story:

"Mommy, why can only mommies and daddies walk with Jack? I want to pick him up and walk with him."

"Well, Phoebe, can you show me for the next 10 minutes how you walk around and take care of your babies? If you do a good job with your babies, then I'll think about it."

"Okay!" Phoebe proceeded to go get her favorite baby, Maribelle. She did pretty well, and I was starting to get really nervous. I knew my proposal was a bit risky when I made it. But, alas, Phineas and Ferb came to my rescue! She heard the theme song, Maribelle hit the floor, and I was officially off the hook. My point was made, and now she understands why she can't walk around carrying Jack! That was a close one.

Jack Thomas Koch- September 27, 2011

He came really fast! The short version: Tuesday, September 27- I had been contracting all day at school, but the contractions were really far apart so I carried on. My final scheduled doctor's appointment was that same day at 4:00. By the time I made it to the doctor, my contractions were much closer together and I had already begun to dilate. Doc told me that he wanted me to report to the hospital no later than 7:00 that evening. Shawn rushed Phoebe to Nana and Papa's house, and we were headed southbound to Northside. We checked in... yada, yada, yada... Jack was born at 9:35 that same night.

Shawn, teary-eyed, with his son.

Not the most opportune time to be photographed, but what the heck.

Jack in all his glory once he was all cleaned up.


My big boy weighing in at 8 lbs. 6 oz.

The Sunday Golf Lesson

Phoebe is really starting to enjoy her Sunday lessons with Daddy. All she can handle is about 30 minutes until she starts to get silly, but she seems to really like it. Her favorite part is getting to pick out a drink and a snack afterwards.

She makes contact almost every time!

Big Girl Bedroom

The time has come! Phoebe is now the proud owner of a "Big Girl Bed." Back in June we ordered her new furniture (bed, mattress and boxsprings, dresser, mirror, and night stand) from a cute little place called KooKoo Bear Kids. It was just delevered the other day. The bedroom has been painted for about two weeks waiting to be occupied. Of course she wanted pink. Here are some pics of her new furniture with her new bedding (surprisingly she picked it out all by herself).

We still need to get some stuff up on the walls, but at least all the major stuff is in place just in time for Baby Jack to occupy her old room.

First Day of School

Now that Phoebe has a year under her belt at her Montessori school, our second "first day of school experience" was much more pleasant. She was ready to go.

Later that evening, when I was giving her a bath, Phoebe summed up her day as only she could. As she was laying flat on her back in the tub with just her eyes, nose, and mouth poking out of the water, she laced her hands behind her head and said with a sigh, "What a perfect day." I was cracking up.

Golf Lesson with Daddy

Today Phoebe had another golf lesson with her daddy. It was a group lesson, which is a much better environment for her. She really does listen better when there are other kids involved and it is not just one on one with Dad.

Here she is waiting patiently for her turn to hit. Obviously, she is the youngest.
Off the tee with a driver. That's my girl! Nice contact!

The group went inside to watch themselves on video. Here she is hitting off the mat. Good lookin' swing!

Teeing it up.

She does allow Daddy to give her a bit of instruction.

Nice backswing. Notice her eye is on the ball... this does not always happen :)

She did so great! While the other kids ran inside to get cool and get a drink, Phoebe cried because the lesson was over. We had to stay and hit "just one more" before we could leave. "Just one more" turned into 30 minutes.