Ginger-locks

'Someone's been sleeping in Ailsa's bed' and he seems quite content in there during the girls' bathtime! Anything if he's quiet...

Dog walk fun

Now her suit has been washed - Isla decided to make sure it still worked... As a sledge!

The wee man

One good lookin' kid, if I do say so myself!  Yes, that's a ginger-tinge to his hair! and his eyes are turning bluer...

Fergus's first dog walk

What a week!

So, this week Auntie Erin came over to help us out as Daddy had a business trip to Las Vegas and with a 2 day old baby, there was little chance of mom coping on her own. The girls LOVE Auntie Erin and with her "Bag 'O Fun" she kept them entertained for hours!  We took some "family pictures" and did lots of fun stuff. We were sad to see her go home this morning and Isla has made sure she knows she is invited back ANYTIME ("in 100 days, or a Tuesday, or a Thursday or next Friday.."). Ailsa especially took to Erin and used her little comedian personality to make Erin laugh at every given opportunity.

 Chocolate Pudding Finger painting

 Doing everything one-handed with Fergus snuggled into her.

 As the weather was beautiful today, and we'd hardly made it out of the house the rest of the week, with Daddy back we headed to grannie's to help feed baby lambs that were born this week.

 Then, of course, the outdoor suits came out and it was puddle, climbing, muddy time. Isla was very proud she was "King of the Mountain" and has asked we print this picture off to show her "true love," Laurie Price....her little mate at outdoor preschool...his grandpa is a sheep farmer, he has HUGE curls and is very shy, but she is totally enamored with the poor boy...although she informed me that "when ever I ask Laurie stuff he says "we'll see" or 'maybe later"....ah, all boy..

Uncle Michael topped off our excitement by buzzing the farm.  The girls found it very exciting (he flashed his light and everything!)....Baby Fergus, like most of the time, slept through it.

 He does love his sleep!

 Ailsa was just excited she got to see Dee!

 And go play with the "bock-boks"

 Grannie has some rather large Braha hens that the girls had a good time "playing" with.

 And Mr. Brahma Chicken....

 See! One is almost a big as Grannie...(heeheehee)...

Ready, steady, SPLASH!  Someone's not so good at actually "jumping" but boy does she try when shown a puddle!!

And, he's still sleeping....

One week old!

Daddy's back from his business trip. It's a cold and chiily Saturday and we've taken Erin to the Beatrix Potter exhibit in Birnam. Mom and Fergus stayed in the car to be fed. He's woken up and today (in the outdoor light) his hair looks quite red!

Single aunties

So, Auntie Erin had this great idea to let the girls fingerpaint with chocolate pudding...not recognizing the ENORMOUS potential for that to go wrong! The girls have been giggling the whole time, but it's definitely a bath night tonight!! And perhaps it would be wiser to use vanilla pudding and do it outdoors in future....

Strides

The midwife came again today and did his heel prick blood test but also weighed him. He's only lost 260 grams, which is good news. For the new amount he's decided to sleep (7pm-4am in his own bed! and 5am to 10am today) we're actually waking him to make him eat! He loves being held and sleeping....we don't mind.

Mr smiles

Ignore the pile o junk on my counter---someone loves his sleep and being held!

John Lewis

Ah, the harrassment has begun. At bedtime Isla insisted Fergus could sleep by her, in her John Lewis baby bed...he fit--just barely!

Life at Home

 Auntie Erin has come over and saved the week for us. She brought a "bag o fun" and has kept the girls busy with crafts and cooking and lots of new songs and games. Ailsa is adjusting well to not being the baby, and likes her crayons (and ponytails!)

 Grannie and the kids

 Three generations of Troups

 Our wee man sleeping...what he does best! He's finally settled at night for the first time, much to mom's relief!

The kids. Isla and Fergus will be my blonde, curly twins.

"be-be"!! (she gets quite stressed when he cries and runs to him)

Hoping for a peaceful night!

Waking up!

He's getting more alert every moment but seems to prefer 5-8am as his 'wake' time.

Proud older sister

A name

He has been named Fergus Brian Troup. We brought him home on Sunday at noon, just as Auntie Erin was arriving from the airport. He's a good little sleeper and we're waiting for our first midwife visit this afternoon. Erin and Isla are diligently prepping for a "Girls' party" tonight...with pink EVERYTHING....poor Ferg!

Hearing Tests

3:30am and he's passed his hearing exam! YIPEE. Will keep this in mind for when he, like his sisters, starts to 'selectively listen' to me! He slept right thru the probes, the ear muffs etc...now just for the pediatrician & we should be okay to go when daddy comes in the morning.

Birth

So, 50 hours after we were admitted for induction, Baby Boy Troup made his appearance. In the end it was Fiona (Ferg's sister--the former gamekeeper on Alisdair's family's estate, Grannie Ella's daughter) who was on shift and got everything going.
She'd not told us she was on day shift (7am) and gave us the option of having a different midwife if we wanted, but we opted for her to stay with us and she was brilliant! We'd had a rough night before with waiting to be moved to labour ward, then three failed attempts to fit an IV 'spout' in case it was needed (as often happens in inductions) and contractions that didn't establish themselves very well.
She came in with a 'plan' for the day, banished all negative thinking, ignored the fact we were going on 1 hour's sleep, was militant about what mom could eat or drink, and pushed on. She ramped up the drug doses and by 10:30 had the drip maxed out, had taught mom to use gas and air (nitrious oxide--laughing gas), had us all set and we were off!
It was an INTENSE 90 minutes, but baby came out at noon exactly and despite a room full of slightly frantic people dealing with mom's blood loss, by 1 the 'war zone' was cleaned up, baby'd been weighed and measured and dressed and things were calming down.
How odd that after 50 hours of relative 'calm' it all happened in 90 minutes! Fiona finished her shift at 3 and was off. So strange that that kind of intensity can just be part of a normal day for a midwife.
We're sure happy with our little boy, who seems like the most placid child on earth (obviously an Alisdair trait as certainly not something he gets from Kenna!) He took straight to feeding, hasn't really cried (nitrous oxide doesn't cross the placenta for those of you thinking he's still just buzzed), makes the best little noises as he dreams (identical to Charlie's), is doing his best to cough up mucus (it was a quick trip through the birth canal!) And so far just sleeps unless he's woken, even to feed.
We obviously are a little out of touch with newborn sizes as neither of us pegged him as bigger than Ailsa was at birth, but he is. In fact we did all the measurements twice as we thought we'd converted from metric wrong!
It's another long night for mom, but thankfully we were allowed to stay in the labour ward (so we're in a private room with a toilet and got to shower! YIPEEE for the new hospital). They're still observing mom for blood loss and Baby needs his hearing test and pediatric check up before we can leave in the morning. But with any luck we'll be home about the time Auntie Erin makes it from the airport.
Thanks to everyone for their support! The girls have been in their glory getting to spend THREE whole days with Grannie bottle feeding baby lambs, doing crafts, playing outside and being at the farm...or with Neighbour Anne. We'll see how they take to their new brother and if Ailsa really understands the word 'gentle.'
We'll let you know when we get him named!!

He has arrived

10lbs 6oz, 21.25 inches born on 14th of January at 12 noon. All doing well - no name confirmed yet.

Progress

Mum has now been moved to the labour suite.

Picturesque walks

Yup, a lady riding her horse, swans in the pond, magestic trees...

Induction--Scottish style

After Alisdair being sent home at 10pm, a crappy night's sleep for mom on the shared ward of 4 women, a pretty gross breakfast of salty cream of wheat (they claimed was porridge), mom"s been given another dose of drugs and told to wait another 6 hours....so, as it is crisp and clear out (2 consecutive days!!) We've gone out to explore some more of the hospital grounds (It was built on an old estate and they are very proud they employ a forest ranger. It's not signposted at all and we've done more 'off-roading' than we planned--but as we sort of expected more walking, Alisdair brought mom's sneakers for today's jaunt...much more comfy but perhaps wellies would have been a better choice given how wet my feet are!

Mmmm hospital food!

IMG-20120112-00020.jpg

Still nothing to report...

Induction

The induction process has been started and mum is taking advantage of the sunshine to help speed things along...

Little Miss Attitude

Someone thought it was great fun to wear her sunglasses to get Isla from school today...she kept yelling 'LOOK!' The whole ride. She'd put them up on her head for a bit, then back over her eyes. When she arrived she insisted on wearing her glasses in the gates. The other kids got a good laugh out of it.

More fun

Our little village

We made a teepee, a log cabin, and a lean too--and a flag pole complete with lichen and beech masts! Then we got white stones and more sticks and by the time we left Isla had found a shovel and was digging up paths.

Outdoor fun

The sun came out today and we tried to make the most of it! We went down to Grannie's for our usual routine; rode bikes, played with Dee, visited Mr. Chicken but then decided to do a new activity-building Fairy Houses. Isla had a great time and didn't want to leave and insisted we go back tomorrow to do some more.

Warm nights

Daddy built a fire yesterday and it wasn't that cold outside so when it came to bedtime, Ailsa got too hot and was up all night crying (despite being taken out of her grobag by 830pm) but the heat and her sweating, gave her a lovely head of curls that lasted all night! She and Isla do have something in common!!

The girl who knows what she wants

Ailsa is our little comedian, but also attitude...here, she's not having a spiritual moment, but protesting the way mom was trying to help her down the slide. Her favourite phrase is 'all done' when she's had enough and has also learned 'yes' (ALWAYS her response to 'do you want a juice/drink?') And 'No' to questions like 'shall we go inside? Or on Thursday when mom asked her if she wanted carried back from our walk over the railway crossing (she insisted the neighbour take her!)

3 year old's magic

Dry days!

The rain has stopped (for now) and the girls (and dogs) have finally gotten outside. Daddy had a go at putting the wind-destroyed climbing frame back together and the girls played on their other frame for awhile. Later, we headed to grannie's with their bikes and they spent another few hours peddling around the farm. It's the fresh air we've all been needing!!

Happy News

So, today mom had a midwife appointment and they have set an induction date for next week. YIPPEEE!!
As she was phoning Ali sitting outside the local hospital, the caretaker came out with a broom, chasing these two chickens out...slightly funny really. Just something you don't expect to see when you go to the dr's surgery!

New Year's Fun

 We had our family hamburgers by candlelight dinner on the 31st. You'll note the "gifts" on the table (right)---the 31st is also Charlie's birthday! (She's 8 weeks older than Isla). Dad, Grannie and Isla went out shopping for Charlie's birthday presents and Isla came running in the house yelling "let's get this party started" about 3pm....

 Charlie, not sure what to make of her rawhide bone....(in the end, she didn't want it, but the other dogs were happy to take it, thus adding to mom's hypothesis that it is not Charlie who chews shoes apart in our house!) and her new bed (on the floor behind her).

Ah, glasses from Auntie Tiina for the 12 days of Christmas are still the source of great amusement! Ailsa insisted on taking out her ponytails yesterday and had this wild hair-do....the glasses and cupcake sweatshirt sort of complement it nicely!

 This shot might look familiar from late May/early June 2010....we decided to re-create it for this pregnancy as well....here's everyone showing their bellies...

 And the front shot....Isla is particularly proud of her "big  belly"....Ailsa just calls her's "baby".

Someone having fun coloring the inside of the cereal box after breakfast this morning!