Are these really all mine?

Enjoying the "babymoon."  Just snuggling with this baby is bliss.  I love googling over his tiny toes and inhaling his milky smell.

See the doll feet hanging out the the carrier?  Every day I put Clay in a baby carrier and go for a walk, pushing Miles in the stroller.  Miles wanted to try carrying his baby in a carrier, too.  (He can't sleep at night without his baby next to him on the pillow.)

Clay's cheeks and neck are pudging up.  He gained nearly a pound at his one-week appointment with the pediatrician!  What a happy face.

Alvin's new couch, before bringing it home from the store.  He totally designed our basement "den."  He painted it and furnished it with a couch, new TV, abstract painting and TV stand.  We love to hang out there. 

We still take naps around here

Although you may see two little boys above, the real person getting some rest here is me!

Remember how energetic Alvin is?  Well, it's definitely coming in handy these days.  He can supervise his oil wells for a couple hours in the middle of the night, wake up at 6:30, work all day, then come home and play with Miles and hold Clay.  My knight-in-shining-armor's best weapons?  The pacifier and the iPad.  I love you, dear!

What Miles says . . .

...when he's hungry:  ||:  I want some raisins and some cereal and some marshmallows and some nuts and some p-butter balls and some cheese and some dates and some apricots.  How 'bout alla dos? :||

...when Clay is crying:  Put the pass-fier on that baby!  He's cryin'!

...when I'm crying (because Clay is crying and Miles is hungry):  I want give you a hug.  You a lil' bit happy?

The Little Toddler That Could

Miles has been watching the 2011 animated version of "The Little Engine That Could."  It's about a train, so of course he loves it.  He randomly quotes lines from the movie, complete with inflection: "We can't just leave them!" and tells me about the characters: "Richard, the real boy, and the 'cary' [scary] train."

The other day we were out for a walk, and Miles was riding his new bike from Santa.  When we came home, I assumed he would jump off the bike and let me push it up our steep driveway.  Instead, Miles kept pedaling while I pushed his back.  As we started up the hill, Miles chanted, "I tink I can, I tink I can, I tink I can."  I almost burst out laughing.  It was cool that he applied something he had seen in a movie to his own life.  When we got to the top, he said, "Look!  Made it to the top!"

Welcome, Clay

Here is our sweet little baby boy!  Clay Steven Anderson arrived Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 2:53 pm.  He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and measured 20 inches long.  The middle name "Steven" is after my dad, and "Clay" is after, well, we just thought it was a good name: simple, easy to spell, not too common, and starts with a strong, hard consonant.  Plus it's a geology name, like Miles. :)  Plus we have a pretty cool friend named Clay, too.

Clay is a pretty easy baby.  He sleeps, starts to wake up and get fussy about every 3 hours, eats, then falls asleep again.  He's the first of our family born outside of Utah; we're interested to see what an Oklahoma birth certificate looks like.  As soon as we brought him home from the hospital, we had to buy some actual "newborn"-sized clothes.  (Miles was only that small for about a week!)

Alvin took a few days off work to help at home and hang out with our new addition.  Miles is enjoying extra daddy-time (including trips to the park and zoo), and I'm enjoying asking Alvin to do the dishes and pick up clutter while I lay in bed, sit on ice packs, nurse Clay, or try to satisfy my suddenly ravenous appetite.