Life with John

 John is 2 weeks today.  In some ways it is hard to believe it has already been 2 weeks, and in others it feels like he has always been here.  We all very quickly got back into the swing of things.  The fact Eric's mom was here for a few days after we came home aided in this greatly.  It also helped that Eric was home for a whole week after we were discharged from the hospital.
  Eric showed Will how to fix an engine...or something like that.  Will ran in to find a car he had built from legos to see if he could recreate what he was seeing.  And I am sure that in his imagination he succeeded.

 We started a family game of Sagaland.  This is a game that starts slowly, but can end quite quickly.  We never quite made it past the slow part.  Though, Molly did try to speed this up by letting everyone know what she found under her trees.

 John found his thumb for a couple of days.  And then he lost it.  Shoot!  Ah well, hopefully he will find it again in the next couple of months.

 John participated in his first homeschooling lesson.  He did quite well.  He sat quietly like a champ.

 We introduced John to 'Jimmy' (which is what we have dubbed his snuggly, Jimmy is a nickname for James Naismith...though Molly prefers to call it his snuggly and will run and get it as soon as she sees John without it)

 The kids all love John and want to be near him.  This picture pretty well captures what it is to be a fourth child.  No quiet darken room for your nap, you get to take a nap right by your playing siblings.  I will on occasion put him in his room for a nap, but for the most part he just sleeps where the action is.  He has been hearing their noise for the last several months anyway, so it may actually be comforting to him.

 John got his first home bath on Saturday night.  He loved it as you can see :).  Eric and I have learned quite a few things since Dom.  For one, you don't need two parents to bathe an infant.  Though, it does help to have someone else photograph the event. 

 Easter morning came bright and early.  This is something where it really helps to have two parents.  Especially when Mass is at 7:30 AM and one of the parents is the sole source of food for one of the children.  Eric bragged he got all four children ready for church...if you don't count that Dom and Will can dress themselves, I made sure that everyone's Easter outfits were laid out the night before, and that I did Molly's hair, he would be absolutely correct. 

 For Easter, Molly received a baby doll of her own.  I named her Layla Penelope in honor of the girl's name Will had picked out and was so devastated over not getting to use.  We call her Penny for short (though Molly just calls her: "my Baby").  It is very sweet to see Molly replicate what she sees me doing.  Last night, she sat next to me and held Penny exactly as I was holding John.  Then when I put John in the bouncy seat, Molly laid Penny at the bottom and put a blanket over her as well. 

 And here is my Baby:

 Eric took some wonderful pictures of John in his Easter get-up.  Perhaps one day soon I will get these on a card and mail them to all of our friends...soon is relative, right?

 And here are all of the handsome Buschelman men.  Or Buschelmen for short. 

One short story before I forget.  Last Saturday we took a walk up to the Liquor Store to buy some Champagne to celebrate Easter.  Seems about right.  Anyway, on our walk, Eric carried John in the Baby Bjorn and the kids played 'Red Light, Green Light' all of the way.  It was all quite idyllic.  Until Eric started yelling about what kind of diaper I had put John in.  I told him I'd used one of the last Huggies from the hospital.  Apparently, it had failed and John had soaked his father.  Upon hearing this, William lectured us on the virtues of using Pampers because they are 3X more absorbent.  Not only was it hilarious to hear our 5 year old quote a commercial  to us (in his words, John could have gone to the bathroom 2 more times before a leak out would have been possible), but it definitely lightened the mood of all involved.  Ever since then, Will has made sure I use the preferable diaper.  Too bad Eric is not here to benefit from his son's vigilance.